Ichika's Trust
by Endon
Summary: Following a kidnapping when he was younger, Ichika Orimura was filled with mistrust and paranoia. Now, what will he do as a genius, who happens to be the only man who can pilot an IS?
1. Prologue

AN: I've been thinking about doing this for a while. This is my first fanfic.

Infinite Stratos, and all of its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

XXXXXXXX

Five years ago

A certain place, Japan

There was a boy, about ten years old in appearance. He was in a dark room within some sort of warehouse, crying. No matter where he turned his head, all he could see was more darkness. While he thinks he can hear voices outside, it's really quite hard to tell. Nobody is coming to get, and he is starting to wonder if he's really going to be fine.

Ichika Orimura is, for the first time in his short life, afraid and lonely.

"Nee-san, where are you?" He cries out between sobs.

After what seems like hours, he begins to hear shouts and gunfire outside the warehouse. He turns his head towards where he thinks the gunfire is. They aren't coming for him. Nobody is coming for him.

A few minutes later, after the gunfire, but not the screaming, has died down, a hole is ripped in the wall of the warehouse that Ichika had found himself in. His sister has come.

"Nee-san! Nee-san!" He cries, running towards his sister, to her arms.

"Calm down Ichika. You don't need to cry now. I've taken care of all the bad men." His sister says, wrapping her arms around him. She carries him out of the building, and they return home.

XXXXXXXX

Present

IS Academy, Japan

_Of course I'm the only man who can pilot an IS. Just my luck. And here I wanted to not stand out._

Ichika Orimura gets C's and B's in school. He has an average appearance, and due to his sister dropping off of the radar, few people recognize him for that. To someone who doesn't really know him, there are only two significant things about Ichika Orimura. Firstly, he does not live with his parents. Secondly, he was the captain of his kendo club in his second and third years of middle school.

And now he is the only man in the world who can pilot an IS.

Those few people that know him, however, will know that he is highly observant, probably a good deal smarter than he lets on, and always, ALWAYS knows what's going on around him. He can quickly pick up on the basic social structure, as well as how people think of him and what they plan on doing with him, just with a single quick look. They also know that his sister is the famous Chifuyu Orimura, winner of the first Mondo Grosso tournament and legendary hero to most girls who wish to pilot an IS in the future.

The three people whom he trusts, however, know exactly WHY he taught himself this. They also know that he took classes in Chinese, English, French, and German, so that he can at least have a basic understanding of what any people from a country that has major IS developments. Two of these people also know just how much smarter than he is compared to what people think, and that he is constantly making plans for how to quickly get away from any situation.

_Can't get out of this one. Wonder how long it'll be 'till I start to be requested for interviews._

Ichika sighed.

_At least Chifuyu-nee will be teaching the class. Some of those girls probably haven't seen a guy in the same class as them in years, and since I'll be the only guy in the school, I'll probably become a target. They might even try to sneak into my room. Am I going to have to hire guards?_

He stopped in front of the door to class 1-1 of IS Academy.

_Suppose there's no real point in worrying about it. Let's just see how it goes._


	2. Chapter 1: The First Day

AN: Here's chapter 1

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text _means Ichika's thoughts

;text; means that they are speaking in English, otherwise it's Japanese

XXXXXXXX

Present

IS Academy, Japan

_I hate my seat. I've been here five minutes and I already hate my seat. Front of the class, sure, that's fine. I'm in the center of the front row, and I can feel that all but two people in this room, not counting my clumsy-looking assistant homeroom teacher, are staring at me._

_Dammit. Where's Chifuyu-nee? Meeting?_

Most of the pairs of eyes in the room are trained on him. Someone two chairs to his left, an old friend of his from the hairstyle, is looking out the window. Her hair was about hip-length, tied in an overly fancy bun held together by a dark green with black trim bandana. She was wearing the school uniform with combat boots and knee-highs.

_No help from her. That blonde woman isn't looking here either, but she's probably not going to be any help anyway._

Ichika's eyes, are looking around, trying to figure out the fastest way to get out of here if one of these owl-women decide to jump him instead of just stare.

_It'll take too long to vault over my desk. I remember a long enough elevator ride that jumping out the window is out of the question. If I flipped onto my desk and started running, I could probably hop across the desks and get out of here, but what can I do after I'm out? I still have more floors full of women who are probably after me just as determinedly to get away from._

Ichika frantically looked side to side. His pulse was raised, and he could feel the adrenaline setting in. He tapped his foot on the ground at a constant rate.

_Where the hell is Chifuyu-nee?_

"Rimura-kun. Ichika Orimura-kun!" The clumsy-looking assistant teacher, who on the board appears to be named Maya Yamada, called to him.

"Huh?" He responded flatly.

_Shit._

"Um... I'm sorry for speaking too loud, but having started from 'A' we are now at 'O', will you introduce yourself?" She was saying this as though she thought it a distinct possibility that she could be speaking too loudly, as he is sitting directly in front of her.

_!_

"Ahh... Sure, no problem." Ichika said while pushing himself up to stand.

He took a deep breath, in a futile attempt to calm his nerves.

_The exit is that way. You're already standing. It won't be a problem. You can get away if necessary._

He turned around to face the class.

"I am Ichika Orimura. As you probably know, I am the only known man who can pilot an IS. I hope we can all get along these next three years, and learn a lot from each other. That is all."

The girls are all staring at him as though they are hawks who have found their prey. He turns around, and sits back down.

_No need to run yet. Ah! Chifuyu-nee is here. Nerves restored, danger level 0._

"Ichika." The taller woman said. She was wearing a stylish black suit. Her long black hair rested on her shoulders, with a long ponytail going down to her waist, and her arms were crossed.

"Y-yes, Chifuyu-nee?"

"That was terrible." She told him bluntly.

"I know." He replied.

_Okay, so no special treatment. Fine. At least she's the greatest authority here._

Chifuyu walked and took her place behind the teacher's desk in the front of the class.

"I am Chifuyu Orimura. For this first year, I will be in charge of making sure that the basics of piloting an IS are drilled into your body. You will probably hate me at some points in the near future.. If you understand, say 'yes'. If you don't understand, say 'yes'. Do you understand?"

_Good. Already establishing who's in charge. That's going to work nicely._

"Yes, Chifuyu-oneesama!" Every girl in the class, save Houki, said.

_SHIT! Of course she's well-known here._

"All of you settle down now. My lesson plain is the following:..."

_Oh god. Why? I knew I wouldn't be able to hide here, but this... this is just ridiculous. Once I'm out of class, I'm going to have to head over to the kendo club just to work off some stress. I promised Dan I wouldn't ask for help more than twice a week, and he'll laugh if I ask for help the first day of classes._

"Ichika. You weren't paying attention again." His sister had finished reciting her basic lesson plan and was now glaring at Ichika. Again.

"I'm sorry, Chifuyu-nee. You know how I get sometimes."

She sighed, then coughed. Ichika heard whispers about him being 'Chifuyu-oneesama's younger brother!' and 'Maybe that's why he can pilot an IS!'

_Again, shit._

Ichika spent the rest of class until the first break desperately hoping that either his sister or Houki would save him from these horrible, horrible stares.

_Houki-san! I haven't seen you in six years and you ignore me? What's wrong? I don't remember doing anything to deserve this!_

The beginning of the first break wasn't much better. Every first-year, at the very least, was gathered outside of the classroom, staring at him. As were all of his classmates, although most of them were in the corner of the class, away from him. It seemed as though some of them were going to talk to him.

_Someone get me out of here._

Houki walked in front of Ichika's desk, and looked directly at him. She then broke the eye contact.

"Can I have a moment?" She asked him in an exasperated tone.

_Good. A way out of here. Thank god. Thank you, Houki-san._

"Sure, no problem. Let's get out of here." Ichika responded.

XXXXXXXX

IS Academy roof

Ichika paced around the roof for a few seconds, then settled on the side of Houki closest to the fire escape.

"What is it that you need, Houki-san?" Ichika asked.

There was a silence that seemed to last for hours, before she finally spoke.

"Ichika... how could you tell? It's been six years..." Houki said.

"I listened during self-introductions, and the hairstyle is a dead giveaway. It's been six years, so you probably have something to say, right?"

She flustered, and fidgeted.

_Shit. Not now. During my first day of school, and I already have to put up with this drama. Why did I even make that promise? What would a dense man do?_

"You won the national kendo tournament last year, right? Congratulations." Ichika said.

He didn't enter because he didn't want people to eye him during his time there, it would bring too much attention to himself and what high school he goes to if he were to do too well. That did not, however, stop him from watching the matches.

Houki turned around, arms spread behind her. She looked angry.

"How did you know?" Houki growled.

_Oh shit. No. Not now. First day, and I already have to do this?_

"I was watching the matches in-person. Nobody from my school entered, but as the captain of the team, the least I could do was record the matches for my kohai who didn't get to make it." Ichika responded calmly.

_Good. We can move away from awkward. Awkward is bad._

"You were team captain?" She asked. She actually looked astonished.

_She's surprised. Good, I can use this._

"Yeah. I was appointed on my second year, and kept the position throughout the third year. When I graduated, all of my kohai said they were sad to see me go, because now one of them had to be in charge." Ichika laughed.

"Some of them were actually crying, too. Especially the first-years."

She looked at him, stunned. Ichika noticed that she had inadvertently inched closer.

_Wait... bad Ichika! Shit! Flag triggered!_

The bell for the next class rang.

_Saved by the bell._

Ichika began to move towards the stairs back down to the interior of the academy. He turned his head to look at her.

"Come on, Houki-san. We need to get back to class." He told her calmly.

"R-right." She stuttered. She waited a few more seconds, then followed him back to the classroom.

XXXXXXXX

IS Academy, class 1-1

"Does anybody have any questions?" Yamada asked.

Nobody raised their hand.

"Anybody?" She called again.

She looked down from her desk to Ichika.

"Orimura-kun, do you already know this?" She asked him.

"Yes. I read the assigned manual last week." Ichika responded in a respectful, professional tone.

_Shit. I'm getting called out because I actually know the book. What would happen if I didn't?_

"Eeeh? But... that book was rather large, wasn't it?" She asked. Her face was plastered with shock.

"I had no homework, and no extracurricular activities. It was not an issue." He responded with the same tone.

"Leave it, Yamada-kun. My brother is perfectly capable of doing something like that. He probably has it better memorized than half of the girls in the class, too. That's just the way he is. His grades are above-average, but he's good at reading quickly and memorization, and has a talent for languages. If he says he read it, he did."

"Y-yes, Orimura-sensei. I understand." Yamada said.

_I wonder how long it'll be before that blonde foreign woman tries to talk to me. She seems pretty unhappy with me for some reason. I screwed up with Houki-san and made her feelings stronger, I think. Let's see how bad this representative is._

The bells ring. Recess has begun.

Ichika is tapping his feet under the table and fiddling with his pencil.

"Could I have a moment?" The blonde woman asks him, using obscenely polite Japanese.

"What?" He asks bluntly.

"My! What a response!" She exclaimed.

_No. Just... no. I am not going to deal with this for any longer than necessary._

"Just having me talking to you should make you feel honored! Can't you have a better attitude?"

_Worse than I thought. Much, much worse. I was going to be polite._

";And why should I feel honored about talking to the English representative pilot, exactly?;" Ichika asked in a polite tone, speaking english.

";How does some mere _man_ of another country know my language and all of this about IS', anyway?;"

";I would like to remind you that Japan was the country in which IS' was invented in the first place. As for your language, English is an important language to know for anyone who wants to participate in the modern business environment.;" Ichika adds a little bit of an edge to his tone of voice.

";I am well aware of Japan being the birthplace of the IS. That doesn't necessarily mean I have to like it, nor do I have to like being in an unimportant backwater country like this one.;" She responded in a haughty tone.

";Backwater? _Backwater?_;" Ichika laughed.

";Japan was a world leader in the electronics industry even before Tabane Shinonono introduced the IS, and after that it was just the icing on the cake. What does your country have? History, to be sure. But we have that, too. The biggest factor that people recognize about your country, though, is how terrible your food is, right? I wouldn't really call that anything that makes _you_ someone to talk to _me_.;"

The classroom is silent. Everyone is staring at Ichika, even though most of the people there don't know English. He isn't fluent, he didn't have the time, but he can speak and understand well enough. Reading isn't an issue. However, that's still better than most people.

Ichika's sister was glaring at him. Yamada looked panicked. He looked around him.

_Ahh, this is more like it. All of them shocked. If I can establish myself as some sort of genius fast enough, maybe I will become unapproachable without having to act like an ass to everyone. I was already planning on some of this, but I can speed the process now._

"Ichika... I knew about the Chinese. When did you have time to learn English?" Chifuyu asked.

"When I was learning the Chinese." He responded matter-of-factly.

Ichika resumed work on his desk.

_Now, to get through classes._

XXXXXXXX

IS Academy, outside.

_Classes are over and I'm still being followed._

Ichika turned to take a peek behind him. A legion of smiling girls, most of whom were probably in his year, were following him.

_Do I ditch them? No, I don't know the area well enough yet. If I started running, they'd just follow me. Just letting them follow me is the only option, I suppose._

XXXXXXXX

IS Academy, dorms.

Ichika is holding a sheet of paper with his room number and key on it.

_1025, huh? I hope that they remembered my request for an individual room._

Ichika opens the door. He hears a shower going. Ichika closes the door.

_No way in hell am I going to have a roommate. I'll wake her up in the morning anyway, and I can handle my mornings myself._

He grabs his cell and pounds the speed dial.

"Hello?" Chifuyu asks.

"Chifuyu-nee." Ichika begins with an urgent tone.

"Hm?"

"I thought we agreed that you would talk to the principal about me getting my own room." He states. This was very important to him.

"And you also wanted bodyguards, yes I remember." She says with a bored tone.

"Why aren't there any?" Ichika asked.

"Because there was a scheduling delay. You're stuck with Shinonono for a week. I'm the person in charge of the first-year dorms, so if you're having any problems, don't hesitate to let me know." Chifuyu told him with a tone that indicated this conversation was over.

"But wait! She's taking a shower! What am I supposed to do?" Ichika asked, desperation plain in his voice.

"I'm sure you'll think of something." The phone went dead. The screen said 'call ended'.

_Shit. What can I do? Ah!_

Ichika opened the door, took out his pen and paper, wrote a quick note, and slid it under the bathroom door. Satisfied, he walked back outside the room and sat facing the door.

About five minutes later, a fully clothed Houki opened the door.

"Only for a week, right?" She asked him, eyes cold.

"Let's hope so, Houki-san." Ichika sighed. He stepped into the room, and closed the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 2: The Representative Battle

AN: Thank you to everyone who writes reviews, I make sure to read all of them. On the English last chapter, I tried to format it with greater than and less than signs, but the uploader removed my formatting. I've clarified now.

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text _means Ichika's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

The black-haired boy was in a warehouse, the cold metal stinging against his skin. There was a chilling breeze through the warehouse, and the men before him were tying him up to keep him from running. He heard gunshots outside, but eventually they were silenced and replaced with cheering. The tears began to pour.

_Nee-san, where are you?_

XXXXXXXX

The black-haired boy was in a warehouse, the cold metal stinging against his skin. There was a chilling breeze through the warehouse, and the men were tying him up to keep him from attempting to escape. When he saw his sister breaking in to save him, the men shot her in forehead. The tears began to pour.

_NO! Nee-san! Let me go! LET ME GO!_

XXXXXXXX

The black-haired boy was in a warehouse, the cold metal stinging against his- light?

White light?

XXXXXXXX

Before she even knew what was happening, Ichika had his right hand around Houki's right wrist, was holding her arm back and holding her down on the bed. After a few seconds, realization dawned on his face, and he released her, sulking off to a corner of their room. Guilt and fear were apparent on his face. He started shaking.

_I knew this was going to be a bad idea. I even was stupid enough to leave my medicine at home, thinking that if I were sleeping with bodyguards outside I would be able to sleep soundly._

"I-Ichika?" Houki asked. She looked more concerned than anything else.

_Great, now I have her worried. Shit._

"You... you were tossing and turning in your sleep. I shook you awake, as you were distracting me. W-was there something wrong with doing that?" She asked him, defensive.

Ichika put his head in his hands.

"I get nightmares when I sleep if I don't have my medicine, Houki-san." Ichika sighed.

Houki looked side to side.

"W-What kind of nightmares?" She asked him.

"I'd rather not say." He responded.

"W-Why not? Is it because you don't trust me?" She asked him with a sad tone.

Ichika said nothing. Each second seemed to drag on for an hour, and she looked at him with growing sadness and frustration apparent on her face.

_Yes._

"You can trust me, you know." She choked out.

"The fact that you feel it is necessary to say that is proof I can't." Ichika whispered, barely audible to Houki's ear.

Houki's eyes widened, and she looked as though she was now getting angry.

A crack resounded through the room as she slapped Ichika and stormed away.

Ichika cupped his cheek in his hand and watched her leave.

_Shit._

Ichika went to his bag and grabbed his phone. He dialed the speed dial, calling his trusted friend.

"Hello, Dan? It's Ichika. I need to ask you a favor..."

XXXXXXXX

IS Academy, class 1-1

_I'll just act like it never happened. Only a few more days left, and then I'll be fine. But how the hell was I so stupid as to not bring any of my medicine? Well, that was a good night. I didn't scream when she woke me up. I guess I'm not used to being shaken awake by someone who isn't basically superhuman. Chifuyu-nee is the only one who managed to not be pinned when she shook me awake._

Chifuyu slammed her hands on her desk.

"Alright, we will now decide who will be the class representative compete in the upcoming inter-class tournament. Not only that, but the class representative will also attend student council and committee meetings, so it is really the position of class leader. Self-nomination or recommending others, either is fine. Any candidates?"

One of the girls to Ichika's right immediately raises her hand.

"Yes! I elect Orimura-kun!"

One of the girls to Ichika's left immediately stood up, hand raised.

"Me, too!" She cried.

_Alright, let's take a look at this rationally._

_Pros:_

_Recognition_

_Easily able to get out of any social obligations_

_Tourney fighting sounds like fun_

_Free time taken up by separate activities, wild-card excuse to get out any thinly-veiled dates_

_Cons:_

_Recognition_

_Might piss some people off_

_Alright, never mind. No. 2 on that cons list is more of a pro anyway._

"Do you really expect me to accept that?" Cecilia screamed.

"You expect me to bear with the shame of having a _man_, of all things, representing _me_, the representative of Britain, for a full _year_? It is bad enough that the people here are so _rude_, and have such an underdeveloped culture, but now you want a _man _to represent me? I will not accept this!"

Ichika stood up, faced Cecilia, and looked coldly in her.

Speaking calmly, he said, "I think that it shouldn't matter how much _one_ person doesn't want me to be class leader, what matters is capability. I propose that we settle this as follows: whoever in this class has the highest average between their grades and piloting ability will be the representative. After all, the class rep should be whoever is most capable, right?"

Chifuyu, who had been listening to this exchange with a smile on her face the whole time, spoke up.

"Alright. In two days, I will hold a sample test with the class and grade it. I will post the results for the school to see, also with an announcement about the formal testing. We'll pair up for duels. Ichika, Alcott, I'm sure you won't mind being paired. Everyone else come to me after class tomorrow, and we'll draw lots." She instructed sternly.

"Now, back to class!"

XXXXXXXX

IS Academy dorms, outside room 1025

After classes

"Chifuyu-nee, can I ask a favor?" Ichika asked into his phone.

"What is it, Ichika?" She asked him warmly.

"Can you teach me some basic tricks on piloting? I know that my machine won't be ready for a bit, but having some practice should be enough."

"Ichika. She's a representative pilot. You're a man who has had no training. What honestly makes you think that you can even have a chance of beating her?"

"Two things, Chifuyu-nee. Firstly, I already know what type of IS she uses and potential pitfalls of her model. Secondly, I'm _your _younger brother. If I even have half of your talent, I'll be able to take care of this without an issue."

Chifuyu sighed to herself.

"You will be busy all day every day starting tomorrow and ending Monday. Do you really want that, Ichika?"

"Do you remember how you taught me kendo? I can take worse. You can turn me down if you want, but threats of a challenge isn't going to put me down, Chifuyu-nee."

"Fine," She replied begrudgingly, "you know I can't refuse you."

"Thanks, Chifuyu-nee. I'll make it up to you." Ichika replied.

"You'd better." She said. Then the phone went dead.

_Now, to deal with Houki-san..._

XXXXXXXX

The next morning, as Ichika was eating breakfast, Houki sat down in front of him.

"I-Ichika." She began, nervous.

_Exactly on time._

"What is it, Houki-san?"

"I... I'm sorry about my reaction yesterday morning. I was just so angry and... A-Anyway, I-I was wondering I could m-make it up to you by... by..." She stuttered out.

Ichika opened his mouth to speak, and noticed that all eating had ceased as the girls in the cafeteria stared at them, excitement clear on their faces.

His phone started ringing.

"Oh... Sorry, Houki-san. I need to answer this."

"G-Go ahead." She stuttered, confused.

"Hello?"

"Oh, good morning, Dan, what is it?"

He nodded, waving his fork in the air.

"Oh, it's going great."

He nodded a few more times, then laughed.

"How did you find out about that?"

He nodded once more, eyes widening.

"Well, Ran-san does make friends easily, so I suppose that her having a senpai that goes here is not surprising."

He looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, I'm having Chifuyu-nee teach me."

Houki's face dropped at hearing this.

"Now, about that other thing..."

Ichika dropped the smile and lowered his voice, whispering urgently.

"You'll have them here by tomorrow, right? Yes. Thank you, Dan. Uh-huh. I'll come by during the next break. Tell your sister I said hi. Bye."

Ichika snapped his phone closed. The bell for class rang.

"Come on Houki-san, we need to go to class." He said to Houki, as he got up, walking towards the tray return, both of their trays in hand.

_No chances of any dates here. Excellent._

XXXXXXXX

That evening, one hour after classes...

Ichika and Chifuyu were standing in the training arena, each inside of a training IS.

"Do you have all of your homework done?" She asked him, already expecting the answer.

"Yes, I do." Was his exasperated reply.

"Now, as you know, this is a training machine. Your actual personal machine will not be arriving until the day of your match. As such, I will be training you on flight and navigation with this IS, as well as using your sword in midair, since your personal IS is a close-combat type."

"Of course it's a close-combat type. It's _my_ machine. I can't use guns."

She threw a chunk of the ground at him, which he dodged awkwardly.

"Don't talk back to me! Now, in order to fly, you have to..."

XXXXXXXX

Friday

IS Academy, class 1-1

Chifuyu had a stack of papers before her. She handed the papers to Yamada, who passed them over to the students. After that, Chifuyu put her head in her hands, and sighed.

"Before I announce the results, I would like to say that neither I nor Yamada-kun leaked the contents of the test in any way, shape or form, and that all results gained are based purely on personal merit. I also had other teachers besides myself go over and grade the tests, and the results were the same no matter what."

One of the girls to Ichika's left put up her hand.

"Orimura-sensei, why do you think it is necessary to say that?" She asked innocently.

Chifuyu sighed, and looked at Yamada.

"Yamada-kun, tell them this class' top scorer."

"Y-Yes, Orimura-sensei. In f-first place... I-Ichika Orimura, with a p-perfect score in all subjects." She stared at the class.

The entire class was silent. The sound of pin dropping on the ground would have deafened everyone present. Then, every female student in the class, save two, stood up at the same time. Ichika covered his ears.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH?" Was the amazed cry of his classmates.

Houki was still reeling from the revelation that her childhood friend, who seemed like an idiot, was actually much, much smarter than he looked. Cecelia frowned, glaring at Ichika, as she had only placed third.

"Ichika." Chifuyu said, after the girls had all settled down.

"Yes, Chifuyu-nee?" He asked innocently, knowing what was coming.

"I want to talk to you after class."

He nodded.

"Of course."

He clasped his hands together and stopped focusing on what's in front of him.

_Alright... as soon as we have a break, I'm going to hop across the desks and jump out the window in the hall... If I do a roll, I should be able to avoid the loss of too much momentum... From there, I might be able to make it to the stairs... No, they all know my room number, and Houki-san would probably let them in anyway. Probably because she's still a bit pissed about how I handled her request to train me, as well as that... conversation we had Tuesday morning... No, I'll have to call Dan and have him get a car here... NO! That won't work... he's still in school. There's only so much he can do... Shit... I'm doomed to help my classmates with homework once I'm out of my training with Chifuyu-nee... Wait! I can just... ah, yes... That will work, especially with how these other girls act to each other... I'll text Dan about it, once I'm out of class... He'll tell me how much of a terrible idea it is..._

"ICHIKA!" The sound of his sister's voice startled him enough for him to be able to dodge the attendance book at him.

"What?" He asked lamely.

"You were distracted. I don't care what your test scores are, pay attention in class." She told him sternly.

"Yes, ma'am." Ichika said sarcastically.

She threw a ruler at him. He smiled and parried the ruler with his pen.

XXXXXXXX

After class

IS Academy, Teacher's offices.

Ichika was sitting on a spinning chair inside of his sister's office, in front of a mahogany desk.

"Ichika." She began.

Ichika looked up, with him glaring at him, arms crossed.

"Yes, Chifuyu-nee?" He asked politely.

"How long have you been deliberately getting lower grades on your tests?" She demanded.

"Since my first year in middle school." He responded calmly.

"Explain." She commanded.

"You know why. I don't want people to notice me. If I'm noticed, I'm afraid that... someone... might try to take me again. I don't want that." He voice became softer as he spoke.

"Have you been hiding any of your other capabilities from me?" She asked him.

"Besides my lack of entry into the Kendo National Tournament for the same reason, despite being team captain for two years? Well, I also know French and German, in addition to the English and Chinese."

"When did you have time?" She asked him, tapping her foot impatiently.

Ichika sighed rolled his eyes.

"After school. That homework was easy. The hard part was deliberately making mistakes so that I didn't do suspiciously well." He replied, purposely ignoring how annoyed his sister was getting.

She clamped down on both of his shoulders, holding him down and glaring down at him.

"Why did you decide to do that?" She asked him.

He looked up at her.

"Because you're my sister, and if I can't become like you and pilot an IS, then I can at least become a scholar worthy of my relation to you. Is it wrong for a younger brother to admire his awesome older sister, Chifuyu-nee?" He asked.

She sighed and released her hands from his shoulders.

"...No. However, I want you to warn me next time you pull some crazy stunt like that. I know you have some... interesting ideas for how you are going to get all of these women off of you. I demand that you tell me at least some small amount of the details." She asked curtly.

"Of course. Do you want me to rub your shoulders here, or are you going to send me back to my room?" He asked.

"Just get over here, little brother." She muttered happily, settling as he to work the tension out of her shoulders, as part of his agreed-upon payment for the IS lessons.

_Yes, I promise, sister. I won't betray your trust in me. I refuse to._

XXXXXXXX

Sunday evening

IS Academy dorms, room 1025

Ichika was alone in his room. He had requested the two hours from seven to nine as his time for showering and preparing for bed, so Houki is over with friends for that duration. Having taken a quick, fifteen-minute shower, as well as prepared for bed in about another fifteen minutes, Ichika was now on his phone, fingering a manila envelope, held shut by a wax seal with a pair of robotic-looking bunny ears on it.

"Yes, I have it, Tabane-nee. Thanks again for doing this." He said gratefully.

He paused.

"Of course. You know why I'm doing this."

Another pause.

"Yes, I am rather happy that this is my last night with your younger sister. You know what I think about these things, Tabane-nee."

He paused once more, then laughed.

"Oh, so you had a hand in my new toy, did you? Well, then I'm sure that I will enjoy it. Have a good night, Tabane-nee." He flipped the phone closed.

He set the phone down and turned the envelope over, breaking the seal and emptying the contents. He read the first page.

_**Initial background results on Cecilia Alcott, English noblewoman...  
**_

XXXXXXXX

Monday afternoon

IS Academy tournament arena, backstage

Chifuyu entered the backstage, and watched her younger brother for a moment, impressed by his aura of confidence.

"Ichika," Chifuyu began, gathering her brother's attention,

"Your machine is here." She turned to walk away. Ichika immediately followed.

He let out a gasp as they approached. He stared at his machine.

It was gray, with thick arms and legs and a pair of rather large wings. Each finger was claw.

"Byakushiki... a fine machine, indeed. What do I have on it?" He asked in awe.

"A beam-sword. Once you activate your first shift, well... you'll see it on the HUD. There's no time before the match, so fitting and formatting will have to happen while you're in combat."

"Of course. That will not be an issue, Chifuyu-nee."

Ichika mounted the machine, and it immediately flashed to life. He moved his right hand forward and opened and closed his fists, the machine mimicking his hand motions. He hunched over, let out a whoop, and launched into the air. He flew out of the launch pad and faced Cecilia, who was already in her IS, the appropriately-named Blue Tears.

The first thing that Ichika noticed about his opponent's IS was that it was, as its name would suggest, blue. It has three pairs of wings, with the first, larger pair having a split down the center. The second pair looked like individual ends of the first. The third pair looked a lot like the second, but seemed attached to the hips and more white than black. The arms extended up to Cecilia's upper elbows, and had black hands, while the rest was, again, blue. Like Ichika's, the fingers on the Blue Tears were all spiked. The legs were heavily armored and rather thick. Cecilia was holding what looked like a laser rifle in her hands.

"If you apologize now, I will still forgive you, and then we can cease this madness." She said.

"Hah! I say the same to you. Now, are we going to do this, or are you going to stand around taunting me all day?" Ichika parried.

Cecilia growled menacingly, and fired at Ichika. He put his hands in front of his head, blocking. The force of the impact, in conjunction with the lack of thrust he was using to keep himself from being knocked back, pushed him to the ground.

_I've got one sword. She's a long-range specialist. Attacking will be a waste of time, and just waiting out my calibration probably cause me to lose. She has optical sensors, but I doubt she's very good with them yet. Probably no heat detection, either. All things considered, the best thing I can do is buy time until my machine actually reaches first shift._

Ichika got into a ready position. The next time Cecilia aimed at him, he began flying towards the end of the stage.

"It's useless! My Blue Tears can get you no matter where you are!" She taunted, punctuating every word of the sentence with a laser beam from the rifle.

Ichika was carefully keeping enough ground between himself and Cecilia so that every missed shot would create a cloud of smoke. He was moving just fast enough to evade her shots, and soon the entirety of the lower part of the arena was obscured, covered with smoke and dust.

"Thanks for the cover!" Ichika called, and retreated into the cloud of smoke.

Cecilia tried shooting at where she thought he might be, but all that did was increase the amount of smoke in the arena and holes in the ground.

_Still not ready yet? Dammit. I can't hold this up forever. I might have another thirty seconds left before she can find me again. I suppose I'll have to make due with what I've got..._

Moving slowly, so as not to move the smoke overmuch, Ichika crept to where he figured was behind Cecilia's current location.

"Come out, you cowardly man! The honorable battlefield is no place for cowards like yourself!" She cried. She shot at the smoke a few more times, but it had the same effect as before. All her cries did was confirm her location.

Too late, she noticed Ichika shooting up from behind her, a gray metal katana the size of his upper body in hand, and she took her first clean hit that she had ever really experienced.

"I must praise you for your ability. Few have ever managed to last this long against my Blue Tears!" She cried, "But it ends here!"

The longer parts of her two larger wings detached, and four floating bits started shooting lasers at Ichika.

_Oh joy. Remote-controlled attack drones. I've got to wonder, just a high-powered laser is one thing, but who in their right mind creates something like this and then even tries to say that they aren't going to use it in a war? Are people really that naive?_

Ichika dodged the lasers, but as he fought, he noticed a pattern.

_She only fires one or two lasers at a time... Not only that, but since she started to use the bits, she hasn't moved at all. If I had something like that, I would take advantage of my opponent's dodging to use my rifle to shoot at them as well, but if she isn't, then she probably can't... Which means that she's open to attack while her bits are firing!_

Ichika continued to dodge the bits in directions that slowly moved him closer to Cecilia. He even managed to move close enough to destroy one of the bits, when she had to stop for a moment to dodge him. After he destroyed the first one, she called the bits back to her wings for some reason and Ichika destroyed another one with a quick slash while the bit was flying back.

_She can't move or attack while calling the bits back? Do they need recharging, or is she luring me into a trap? Better assume the latter._

Ichika waited, dodging a few more attacks from her laser rifle before she released her bits again. This time, Ichika wasted no time in moving in as close as he could and destroyed the third bit. Invigorated by his success, Ichika charged straight at the fourth bit, and took a clean hit. Cecilia took advantage of this chance and tried to pull back her last bit, but Ichika threw his sword at it and destroyed it.

_I can't believe that actually worked._

Dodging her lasers, he flew to his sword, then charged straight at Cecilia. In the middle of his swing, she smiled.

"Gotcha!" She said, triumph apparent in her voice.

The hip-mounts, that previously looked to Ichika as part of another pair of wings, moved outward and fired. Two high-speed missiles came flying at Ichika.

_Well, shit._

Ichika's eyes widened, and he immediately began to fly backwards away from the missiles. He spiraled up and down, trying to avoid the homing missiles.

_Dammit! I have to travel at top speed to avoid these damn things, and Cecilia is not wasting chances to fire at me to keep me from getting close enough to shake these things off onto her. Does that even work anymore? Is this machine _still_ not in first shift yet?_

Cecilia, anticipating his movements, fired a laser at a point directly in front of where Ichika was traveling.

_Shit!_

He slowed a little, to allow the laser to pass by him. Then the missiles hit; the smoke from the explosions obscuring Ichika and his machine.

Cecilia smiled victoriously.

"And that's that, commoner! You don't fight a representative with only a week's training, no matter _who _your teacher is! I hope you've learned your lesson!" She called in English, pride and elation clear in her voice.

The smoke from the missiles cleared. Ichika's machine looked different. The wings were taller, and more spread out, with gold needles coming out of the tip, two-thirds of the way down, and all the way down to the base. The machine was now white, rather than gray, and the gloves on his hands were now a navy blue.

_First shift, huh? Well, isn't that convenient. The machine saved me, that's for sure. What weapons have I got?_

An info box appeared on the HUD.

_Yukihira Type 2? Oooh, it goes straight through shields. This can end a battle in one hit. It drains my shield energy, too, so I'm going to have to be careful. If this is the weapon that Chifuyu-nee used to win the Mondo Grosso, I'm going to have to make things up to her this weekend._

Ichika activated the Yukihira Type 2. The gray blade folded back onto itself, and an energy beam came out of the handle. Ichika charged at Cecilia, who was still mostly frozen in shock.

"What? You... You were using the factory settings on that thing? And moving like _that_? You're a man! How the hell are you doing that?" She sputtered again in English.

Snapping out her confusion, she tried to fire at Ichika with her rifle, but was a little too late. Ichika spins in the air, bisecting her rifle with his sword directly before landing a clean hit on her left wing, which activated her absolute defense and ended the match.

The stunned audience had just about enough time to pick their jaws off the ground before, as her suit ran out of power, Cecilia began to fall to the ground. Fortunately, she was caught by Ichika and carried down the rest of the way. He set her down on the ground and said, bowing slightly,

"Thank you for the match."

And then strolled out of the arena.

Nobody said a word. They just looked at each other.

XXXXXXXX

AN: I wanted to end this after Ichika's test results were announced, but I just kept on going... and going... and going... and now it's past midnight and I need to go to sleep.


	4. Chapter 3: The Second Childhood Friend

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means Ichika's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

...After my match with Cecilia, all of the other girls resigned their matches. They didn't say anything, but I guess that they really wanted me to be the class rep. I was even prepared to fight it out with them, should that become necessary.

Following the party that the girls threw for me to celebrate my victory, Chifuyu-nee called me to her office. My bodyguards had been decided upon, and I was to gather my things and move to my new room. My bodyguards were two middle-aged, happily married women who have sons my age and could kick my ass in five seconds. Their names are Asamiya-san and Chitsugu-baa, or at least, that's what then told me to call them. They are stationed outside of my door and take shifts at night, and the only people they allow into my room are myself and Chifuyu-nee.

I am a little concerned, as a shiver ran down my spine shortly before I began writing this, but it's probably nothing...

Ichika set down his pen, closed his diary and stashed it back under his mattress. He got changed and went to bed.

XXXXXXXX

Wednesday

IS Academy, practice arena 2

The students of class 1-1 were gathered in five columns, with Ichika, Chifuyu, Yamada, and Cecilia standing in front of them. Chifuyu turned to Ichika and Cecilia.

"Orimura, Alcott, deploy your IS'." She commanded.

They both complied. Ichika was standing ready and Cecilia was standing with her rifle pointed to the side.

_Damn, a second and a half. Need to get faster._

"Orimura, you need to get faster! A properly trained pilot should be able to do it in under a second." Chifuyu barked.

_Alright... I'm all green here. _

A new box appeared on Ichika's HUD.

_Hm? 'True Sight System' how does this... hmmm... this must be the 'toy' that Tabane-nee mentioned was put on my IS. _

Ichika turned to look at Cecilia. The box on his HUD for True Sight activated.

**IS not in database detected.**

**Proceed with scan?**

**Y/N**

_Huh. Yes._

A progress bar appeared on his HUD.

**Scanning IS...**

The specs for the Blue Tears appeared on his screen once the bar was filled.

_Huh._

**Proceed with copying special weaponry?**

**Y/N**

Ichika smiled. This was going to be fun.

_What? No, not right now._

**Save IS to database for later use?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

**Storage complete. Have a nice day!**

The box left his HUD.

_I can copy the special features of my opponent's IS? Going to have to ask Tabane-nee about this when I get back._

"Orimura!" Chifuyu snapped, bringing Ichika out of his thoughts.

"Yes, Chifuyu-nee?"

"Stop spacing out and start flying! Alcott is already in the air!"

"Yes, ma'am." Ichika sighed. He flew up.

_I can copy_ _any special features, huh? Well, might as well find out how it works. Those bits, modified a bit, would be nice..._

"Hey, Cecilia-san." Ichika opened a channel.

"Yes, Ichika-san?" She replied politely.

"How do the bits on your Blue Tears work?" He asked innocently.

_Engage copying method on the attack bits of Blue Tears._

**Understood. Description?**

_The follow conversation._

**Understood.**

Cecilia started a bit, then laughed.

"Ah, are they so superior to what you have on your IS that you're curious about them? Well, then listen closely, and I will tell just why the English IS' are the best in the world..." She began in a haughty tone. Ichika tuned her out.

_When created, proceed to standby for modification to CQC._

**Understood. As usable swords?**

**Y/N**

_Postpone decision until further information is available._

**Understood. Proceeding with copying process.**

_Holy shit. I just had a conversation with my IS. Holy shit. Tabane-nee, what have you done?_

XXXXXXXX

Wednesday night

IS Academy dorms, Ichika's room (1337)

Ichika nodded and moved the phone to his other ear.

"Yes, thank you, Tabane-nee. The toy was... rather interesting. What do I need to do for it to work right?" He was speaking in (mediocre) French to avoid any troublesome listeners.

"I need to understand how the feature is made and what materials it uses, as well as how many bus slots it needs."

He sat up straight.

"Right. How the hell does that machine add more bus slots to itself, anyway?"

He groaned.

"Just saying 'It's Tabane-san magic' is not going to help me, you know."

He sighed.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it. I need the files for the bit system on the Blue Tears, a generator the bits, and how to modify the bits."

His eyes widened, and he almost dropped the phone. Regaining his composure, he sat up straight, the gears already grinding in his mind.

"Seriously? Can you get me those files, and a file on her, here by tomorrow morning?"

He nodded enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Tabane-nee. I'll talk to you later." He snapped the phone closed and pressed it against his lips thoughtfully.

_So... Rin-san is coming back to Japan, huh?_

XXXXXXXX

Following his match Cecilia, Ichika decided to stop eating in the cafeteria for most meals. Instead, he got up an hour early and made himself his food. On the bright side, he could directly request ingredients from the cafeteria staff, with whom he had established a friendship rather quickly. On the down side, this meant that he didn't really interact with his classmates much.

XXXXXXXX

Thursday

IS Academy, classroom 1-1

"That is all. Class dismissed." Chifuyu barked.

Ichika was putting away his books, deep in thought.

_Okay, that machine, as well as what I think I could do with those bits, is amazing. However, I have more immediate things to think about. There is only one day left in this week. I'll head to town for some shopping, but I think I'll call Dan and see if he wants to come along. I'd rather not go with either of my bodyguards, and if I ask any of the other students, it would be completely misinterpreted no matter what I try and say, because I don't want to come out and say why I want to bring somebody along. Chifuyu-nee is too busy on weekends. I'll have to hope that Dan doesn't bring that sister of his, who will probably try to..._

Ichika stopped the train of thought when he noticed that a second year girl was walking towards him, along with some other girls. Sensing trouble, he took a casual look to his left, noting another horde coming. At his right was third horde, larger than the one to his left. He took a quick look behind himself and saw a fourth horde behind him, blocking his escape. His face blanched.

_Dammit, no escape. How am I going to get out of here?_

A feeling of recognition washed over Ichika as he realized the girl in front of him was Kaoruko Mayuzami, vice-president of the newspaper club. This meant he was finally being cornered.

Ichika crossed his arms and started rapidly tapping his foot.

_God, I hate reporters._

He opened his mouth to speak just as they had started taking pictures.

"What do you want?" He asked flatly.

Ignoring his tone, Kaoruko replied,

"We want an interview with the new class representative of class 1-1 and only man in the world who can pilot an IS, Ichika Orimura, of course! It was very hard to get close to you, you know. Those scary women in front of your room just wouldn't leave, and you don't come outside for any of your meals now! It was almost like you were trying to avoid us!"

"I was."

"Yes, but now we finally have you to ourselves. So, you're going to answer aaall of our questions now." She said brightly.

Ichika glared at her and her posse.

"This can go two ways. You let me out now, and everyone is happy. I might even answer a few of your questions. Or, you can refuse to let me go, I call my bodyguards, and you get in trouble with the principal." Ichika told her menacingly.

"You don't have that kind of authority!" Kaoruko was confident...

"Oh, but I do. You see, _I_ am the only known male in the world who can pilot an IS. Making sure that I'm happy and productive here is an international priority. You are a _normal _student, not even a representative candidate. If it came to the principal deciding between the two of us, who do _you _think the principal will side with?"

The entire classroom was silent. Ichika smiled venomously.

_Excellent._

"Now, I will rephrase my offer," Ichika continued.

"You tell your posse to back off, and I will answer five questions as _either _the normal pilot with a week of training who just beat a representative candidate to become class rep, _or_ as the only man who can pilot an IS. Either way, our previous conversation does not go on any record. Do you understand?"

Kaoruko gulped.

"_Do you understand?_" Ichika repeated.

She nodded hesitantly.

Ichika beamed. The girls surrounding him moved behind their club vice-president.

"Good! Now, how do you want me to answer your questions?"

"As the only man who can pilot an IS, please!" She replied in a cheerful tone, as if the previous conversation never happened.

Ichika grinned.

Kaoruko took out her pen and paper.

"First question: What kind of girl do you like?"

_Someone I can trust._

"Someone who can keep a secret and will always watch my back." Ichika said truthfully.

"Hmm... I see... Second question: Have you ever had a girl that you liked?" She asked.

_Maybe._

"No, not that I can remember." Ichika said, shaking his head.

"Hmmm... not even your sister?"

"I was under the impression you meant 'had a crush on', rather than actually cared about."

"Fair enough. Third question-" She began.

"Fourth. You asked me about liking my sister." He snapped.

Kaoruko sighed.

"Fine. Fourth question: Do you have any plans on dating anybody in the future?" She pressed.

_No, never._

"No, not until I'm out of high school." He replied, glad that there was only one question left.

"Last question: has a girl ever asked you out on a date?"

_Yes. Once._

"A few times. I turned them all down, though." Ichika smiled.

"Oh? This is big news! We need to get interviews! Who were they?" She chattered excitedly. The girls around her stepped closer.

"We agreed to five questions, Mayuzami-san. I've answered five. Now, if you'll excuse me." Ichika stood from his chair, grabbed his bag, bowed lightly, and strode out door. He stopped just past the exit of his classroom.

To his left was a Chinese girl who had long brown hair tied in twin tails with yellow ribbons. On her face was a mixture of confusion, regret and anger. He looked her in the eyes.

"I won't tell anyone about anything if you won't, Rin-san." He whispered with honest conviction.

She put her hand behind her back and broke the eye contact, looking down and tracing a circle on the floor with her right foot.

"Okay." She mumbled, barely audible even to Ichika's ears.

He smiled slightly and patted her on the shoulder. She barely noticed as a folded sheet of paper slid out of his hand, and just had time to catch it before the others noticed. Quickly, Rin walked away from the entrance and hid down a corridor. Rin folded the note open, she read it.

_Rin-san,_

_My room number is 1337. I have no roommates, but a pair of bodyguards. Show them this note and they'll let you in. Come by at about 6 P.M._

_The fairy ring dances in the meadow._

_Ichika O._

XXXXXXXX

IS Academy dorms, Ichika's room

5:55 P.M.

_I hate my room number. I wonder who thought it would be funny for me to have that. Okay, Rin-san will probably want to talk about some things, but that doesn't mean that I can't do stuff myself. Dan agreed to go with me Saturday, but upon hearing about Rin-san being here, he insisted that she come, too._

The sound of his door opening and closing snapped Ichika from his thoughts. Rin looked nervous as she walked into his room, but the familiar cooking utensils and aromas from the spices that he managed to get off of the employees of the cafeteria quickly calmed her.

_Good, she does recognize those spices. I was hoping that would be her reaction._

Ichika stood from his chair, and offered his seat to her. Bowing slightly, she accepted it. Ichika pulled up a seat in front of her.

"Are we going to talk about _that_ or greet each other as _friends_ who haven't seen each other in a year?" Ichika placed a bit more emphasis on the word 'friends' and had a serious look on his face.

Rin looked around, fidgeted with her hands, and then looked down at her lap.

"I'll go first." Ichika began, his voice noticeably more gentle.

"Welcome back to Japan, Rin-san. Congratulations on becoming China's representative candidate. I always knew that you were capable of great things, and representing the most populous country in the world certainly counts." He said in Chinese, warmly.

_But we could never be together._

"I'm sorry about your parents." He continued in her native language.

She started, and looked at him, her eyes saying all that was needed.

"How did you know?"

"Is that a rhetorical question? Because I'm usually pretty insensitive, even now, about how I handle talking about that." He said, dead serious.

She laughed.

"Some things just can't be changed, you idiot." She smiled.

"Just tell me already."

Ichika sighed.

"You went back to China because your parents were having marital problems. You seem unusually solemn, even taking into account how you would be seeing me for the first time after... _that_... and even then, you would have strolled in here with far more energy and pride than what you had when you did come in. Are you going to stop me, or do I have to continue?" He asked in Chinese.

"You don't have to, idiot." She said in a soft voice.

"I'm not nearly as dumb as I look, Rin-san, or as dense as I act. You should know that better than even Dan."

Her eyes lit up at the mention of their mutual classmate.

Ichika smiled.

"Yes, I still talk to him. Yes, we are still as close as we were before. He and I are hitting the arcades Saturday, and he mentioned that you could come, too. As a friend, of course." Ichika said, switching back to Japanese.

"Now, can we please stop talking about these gloomy things and argue for a half an hour over who is going to cook dinner?"

Rin smiled.

"You can do it, idiot." She said.

_Good. We can't ever be together, Rin-san. But, we can still be friends. Maybe one day I'll even trust you enough to tell you why I'm so screwed up._

Ichika grinned.

"Good. Now, what would you like to eat?"

XXXXXXXX

Friday morning

IS Academy, class 1-1

Ichika stood before Houki, after gesturing to Cecilia to come over as well.

Once both girls were in front of him, Ichika began.

"A couple of friends of mine from middle school and I are hitting up some of the arcades and picking up a few things at the stores in town. Do either of you two want to come along?" He asked.

"Yes!" and "If you would be so kind." Were heard simultaneously from the two girls. Ichika smiled.

"Good. Meet me at the monorail pickup by the school Saturday morning, at 9 A.M." He instructed.

"Don't be late, or I'll have to leave you behind."

They both nodded furiously and ran off whispering with their respective social circles.

XXXXXXXX

Saturday morning

On the monorail to the main city

Cecilia and Houki, seated on either side of Ichika, were glaring at each other intensely. Anger, frustration and disapproval were apparent on both of their faces. Rin, sitting across from them, was grinning like a maniac, seemingly oblivious to their emotions.

Ichika could feel the oppressive aura emanating from the girls to his left and right.

"Thanks again for inviting me, Ichika! I haven't seen Ran-chan in ages, so I wanted to catch up as soon as possible! Ooh, do you think that Yasunori-obaasan will recognize me?" Rin asked excitedly.

All of the negative energy on the train was now focused on the small Chinese girl. If she noticed their anger, she didn't show it.

_I think she enjoys teasing these two a little too much._

Houki spoke up first.

"Ichika. Why is this girl here, too?" She spoke disapprovingly.

"Yes, Ichika-san. Why is such a common girl with someone of my status?" Cecilia demanded.

Ichika snorted, smiling almost evilly.

"Houki-san, Rin-san my friend from middle school. Dan said to invite my friends from school, and that's you three. Cecilia-san, this 'commoner' is the Chinese Representative Candidate. She's your equal." Ichika told them.

Cecilia looked shocked and impressed.

"Oh. Well, in that case, I suppose it would only be fair that she come along with us." She said snobbily. However, as soon as she was done speaking, she went right back to glaring at Rin.

The rest of the monorail ride was spent with Rin gleefully chattering as Houki and Cecilia glared at her and contemplated attempting to grab Ichika's arms, in a vain attempt to exert dominance over him and claim him as theirs.

When they arrived at the mall, Dan and his sister were already waiting for them.

"Ichika!" He called, waving to get their attention.

_I thought I told him not to bring his sister. Ran-chan probably made him bring her along. This'll just get more complicated._

Dan had long, auburn hair with a black headband over it. He was wearing a black pair of shorts and a t-shirt that matched his hair. His sister, Ran, who was about a year younger, had hip-length scarlet hair and a light purple headband that looked to be the same style as her brother's. She was wearing a loose, pure-white dress.

"Dan!" Ichika grinned. The punched each other's fists. Ichika bowed lightly to Ran, and then turned to his friends from school.

"Everyone, this is Dan Gotanda and his little sister, Ran-chan Gotanda." He said.

Ichika then moved to Cecilia and Houki.

"And this is-"

"Cecilia Alcott-san and Houki Shinonono-san, right?" Dan asked.

"Yes." Houki said, only mildly surprised.

"My! Finally, a person here who knows who I am! May I ask how you my name, good sir?" Cecilia asked.

"Ichika mentioned you in his calls." Dan said simply, giving Ichika a look that said 'She's worse than you warned me'.

Dan turned to face the shortest person there.

"How was China, Rin?" He asked.

She grinned happily.

"It was great! Which arcades do we want to go to first?" She asked.

Ichika smiled.

"How about the usual ones for a couple hours, then I'll go do what I came to take care of with Dan while you and Ran-chan show everyone around the mall, and we'll all head back to our respective homes. How's that?" He asked Rin.

"Sure, sounds good." Dan and Rin said simultaneously.

Cecilia looked thoughtful and Houki just nodded. The group began to walk to the arcade.

_Alright Ichika, it'll be fine. With this many people, you shouldn't have to worry about being seen by anyone here. With this many people, nobody will come. You have your IS with you... that you need approval to use outside of the school. Shit. You have no sword, and you aren't that good with regular martial arts. Cecilia-san and Ran-chan have no training whatsoever in martial arts. Dan will only be able to get away. You've been to the arcades many times, and Dan wouldn't won't lead you anywhere that he doesn't agree is safe. It will be alright. It will be alright. It will be-_

Cecilia stopped, pouting.

"I was hoping that we could go somewhere for lunch since we are together, since we were out. I have yet to taste the cuisine of this backwater country."

Everyone stopped walking and turned to stare back at her, directly outside the arcade. Ichika and Dan, especially Ichika, looked nervous. Ran looked grateful, as did Houki. Rin had a dark look in her eyes, with an expression that screamed 'weren't you getting the hint, you self-centered b**ch?'

"I agree with Cecilia-san!" Both Ran and Houki cried, nodding furiously.

Dan and Rin turned to look at Ichika. He sighed.

_Dammit Cecilia-san, I didn't want to have to do this. Now, my options are twofold: I can say yes, and have Dan choose, and pray that a restaurant that meets my requirements is open, or I can say no, and probably go through more hassle than it's worth to explain without really explaining. Even Rin-san only knows the how, not the full reason why. And, I know that all three of them, especially Houki-san, will be extremely aggressive in trying to find out why I don't want to. This is one battle that isn't worth fighting._

"Okay, fine." Ichika sighed, realizing that his best defense was going to be a good offense.

"After we've spent a couple hours in the arcade, Dan will pick a restaurant for us to go to. I'm rather picky about what kind of restaurants I go to, so it's only fair. More importantly, I trust his judgment, and he knows this area better than the rest of us."

Houki seemed surprised, and almost angry at this, but said nothing. Cecilia nodded, and Rin looked relieved. Ran looked dissatisfied.

"Aww, Onii always picks the boooring places..." She mumbled.

"No, I always pick the boring places, Ran-chan. Your brother, Rin-san and I did this a lot in middle school. We would draw lots. I would just manage to win." Ichika explained.

_We drew lots. Once. I won. Shortly after, I ended up telling Dan, when I realized I actually trusted him enough to be willing to talk about it. It felt good, to have a friend to talk to who wasn't related to anyone else I knew. When Dan started backing me up, Rin-san stopped arguing. Of course, there were other reasons about that, but I was too stupid to notice._

The day passed by uneventfully.

Later in his room, Ichika was writing in his diary.

...Amazingly, nobody flirted with the girls. Between Dan and I being there, as well as Houki-san and Rin-san's hostile demeanor to every man who tried to come close, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

The restaurant was one of the ones we've been to many times before. They're one of the few that actually have the kind of table positioning I want. They recognized Dan, Rin-san and I, and told us that our usual table was open and had room for extra people. The food was good. I paid for everyone's food, like I always do. Cecilia seemed impressed, by both the food and my manners. I guess I have good manners, from all the encounters I've had in my work. Cecilia tried to subtly bait me into trying some of her food, as it would only 'be fair', but I value living too much to be willing to try English food. Besides, if I were to accept, she would use it as an opportunity to flirt with me. If it gets bad enough, I'd have to turn her down. I don't want to ever have to do anything like that, to anyone, ever again. Once was enough...

Ichika put down his pen and shut his diary. He looked to his phone. Sure enough, it started to ring. He answered.

"Hello, Tabane-nee." He sighed, knowing the exact nature of the call.

"Hiiii~, Ikkun! I, the great genius Tabane-san, have something important to tell you!" Her high, cheery voice frustrated Ichika just as much as ever.

"My regulars are getting anxious, and you have a job for me tonight?" He deadpanned.

"Awww... Ikkun, you take all the fuun out of it..." She complained.

"Just tell me what I have to do."

"You're meeting with the CEO of Dunois Industries, the largest French IS development company, who is hoping that you can supply them with some... off-the-record technology. They're really getting desperate, Ikkun~. At this rate, they might get their license. All of the poor Ra-chan cores just can't have that, so I have a model for you to present to them if things go well. In addition, you will also be meeting the primary people providing funding to your classmate Cecilia-chan and your friend Rin-chan. Although, your cover will be as Ikkun, magical IS piloting boy!" Tabane gloated. She really enjoyed sending Ichika to these events.

"I'll go. I don't really have any choice, and I need the money anyway." Ichika sighed, then thought of something.

"Tabane-nee, is Chifuyu-nee going to be there?" He asked.

"I know that Chifuyu-nee usually doesn't go to these sorts of events, but she's my older sister, and legal guardian, so as I am invited, she most likely should be, too, although not necessarily as my supervisor."

"Chii-chan is so mean~! She never calls, Ikkun~! I don't think she has the numberr! And Houki-chan never writes! I thought you'd work on thaat~!" Tabane whined.

"Neither Chifuyu-nee nor Houki-san know that I can contact you at any time. If you'll excuse me, I have a party to prepare for. When will you send my ride?"

"You're riding with Chii-chan, Ikkun~! Have fun now~!" The line went dead.

_Dunois Industries, huh? This... will be interesting..._


	5. Chapter 4: The Ball and Some Business

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means Ichika's thoughts.

AN: Sorry about this being a couple days late, I have been trying for Wednesdays, but I went camping and then my Beta didn't respond for a bit and so I had to push it out a couple days.

XXXXXXXX

Saturday evening

IS Academy dorms, Ichika's room

...It's not like I haven't been to these events before. I've gone to a lot of them. I am, after all, Alice-san's official representative for these sorts of events. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I'm good enough about keeping out of trouble, and they seem to appreciate my presence. This was part of the reason I learned all of those foreign languages in the first place. I've met with many of the people who will be here before, but I've never met Dunois-san himself.

From what I've heard, he is a very commanding and ruthless man, having built his company up by himself. I'm sure he will be impressed by my... limited grasp of his language. Most of those men are. I'm not fluent in any language besides Japanese by any means, and some of the people I converse with will point out mistakes to me, especially funny ones, when I say something wrong.

Usually, the way that this works is that after the party, or sometime in the middle, I meet with the representatives of every country participating in a private room, give them a basic explanation of some of the simpler features, enough to entice them without causing them to guess at how Alice-san made it, and then let them bid. Once the deal has been sealed, I ask everyone else to leave and give the buyer a more... in-depth tutorial on how the new model works. Then I give them a location for the drop-off point for the blueprints and let Alice-san's men take care of the rest. The info is uploaded to my cell remotely, and the line is secured by Alice-san herself. Nobody can actually notice any unusual levels of use, and anything that goes to or from Alice-san's number is protected.

However, today, we are explicitly selling a new, 3rd generation model to the French. Fearing what could happen to the economy if Dunois Industries lost their license, Mr. Dunois himself bidding on the new model. The rest of the men here are social calls, catching up, a night out from their wives, etc.

As the only person, other than Alice-san herself, who actually knows her location, this also makes me the target for kidnapping attempts. Alice-san used to keep under satellite watch, but with my IS' standby mode on me at all times, keeping an eye out for trouble isn't an issue. However, I must still be careful, and that's one of the reasons I avoid restaurants, and also why I don't visit my favorite restaurants very often...

Ichika shut his diary, and re-stowed it under his mattress. He grabbed a thumb drive he had received from Tabane and stashed it in his pocket.

"Ichika, are you done writing yet?" His sister asked, knocking on the door.

"Yes, Chifuyu-nee. May Chitsugu-baa come as well? I would prefer to have her watching, if for some reason we were to separate."

Chifuyu started for a moment, and was still surprised and unmoving when Ichika opened his door. Remember what he had said, she responded.

"Okay. However, do not expect that I'll let you be alone so easily." She began.

"Come along, we need to stop by the house first. You aren't going there in your uniform, and I want something a bit more formal." She strode off, not waiting to see if her brother was following or not.

He stopped by the door, beckoning at Chitsugu.

"Anything that I do during the time I am separated from Chifuyu-nee is a matter of international security that I expect you to keep secret from everyone, especially Chifuyu-nee. I don't know if you know any languages besides Japanese, but any conversations in those are out as well." Ichika whispered, urgency and pleading evident in his voice.

Chitsugu nodded curtly, falling in behind him.

_Okay, now... how to separate?_

XXXXXXXX

Saturday, about an hour later

Orimura household, living room

"Okay, Ichika, just to remind you: you are there as the only man who can pilot an IS. You are Japanese. Try not to embarrass yourself too much, I know you haven't been to any of these before. If you are separated from me, all of the guards already know to direct you back to me. You are not to allow any interviews without me present, as I _am _your legal guardian." Chifuyu told him with a voice that said there would be _no_ protests.

_The guards are also told to inform you of my location only when I am done with my business and everyone else is already gone. With Chitsugu-baa present, you shouldn't feel too bad about it, though._

"Understood, Chifuyu-nee." Ichika responded seriously.

His sister was wearing a long black sleeveless dress that covered her whole body snugly, accentuating her curves. It shimmered with every step she made. She accented her dress with black opera gloves, a black purse, and a shimmering silver shawl.

_She always did like black. I paid for the dress myself. She chose it._

Ichika looked down at his tuxedo. Navy blue pants and dinner jacket, with a silver shirt and a gold tie. He touched the platinum, rabbit-shaped stickpin, encrusted with dark blue sapphires, nestled discreetly in the buttonhole of his right lapel.

_We picked this out after my battle with Cecilia. We figured I would be asked to an event sooner or later, and that updating my formal clothing to match my IS would be the best choice. I didn't mind. I did, however, insist upon this brooch. It's what marks me as Tabane-nee's representative, but the sapphires also tells them that the person who is my escort has no idea about the real reason I'm here. If I had diamonds, it would mean my companion was in on it. I paid for my suit. Chifuyu-nee chose it, as usual for my clothes. Mine would've had a checkered shirt with a striped tie. I still don't get why she told me that there was 'no way in hell' she was going to let me wear that, the colors even matched like she told me to..._

"The dress suits you, Chifuyu-nee." He said admirably. She gently punched him in the shoulder, smiling.

"Let's go, Ichika." She grumbled.

Chitsugu was awaiting them outside the house in their limo, wearing her usual black suit. She nodded to both of them, holding the door open, and they stepped in.

XXXXXXXX

A half hour later

Tokyo, Japan, Shouhei Arakaki's mansion

Ichika and Chifuyu's driver showed their invitation to the guard at the wide open, ornate gates in front of the mansion. The guard waved them in. They passed through, and drove up to the well-lit marble stairs leading to the mansion.

_So, this is the mansion of the headmaster of IS Academy. I've been here a few times before, but it is always an impressive sight._

As the car glided to halt, a liveried attendant came to open the limo's door and escort them to the door of the mansion.

_Boy, nothing like fancy suits to make guards look presentable. Every one of these guys could probably kick my ass in five seconds. I bet they've been growing their hair away from buzz cuts for months so that they have enough hair to look civilized._

Indeed, every attendant within vision had short hair, as though it had only had a few weeks to grow it from something extremely short and militaristic.

As the limo drove away, Ichika offered his arm to his sister, and together they ascended the stairs to the mansion, Chitsugu following a discreet distance behind.

Chifuyu gave a sidelong glance to Ichika.

"When did you learn formal manners?" She asked.

"I asked Cecilia-san to teach me. It's her specialty, you know." He replied.

Ichika handed the invitation to the butler, who bowed and led them inside to the ballroom. The first thing that Ichika noticed as they approached was the lovely, majestic sounds of a live chamber orchestra emanating from the ballroom ahead. They stepped down to the ballroom as the butler handed their invitation to the herald by the door, who took it in his hands.

"With all this protocol, by the time we get in here, it's going to be time to go home..." Ichika whispered to his sister.

"I'm too sober for this shit." Chifuyu whispered back unhappily.

"Ichika Orimura, and his escort, the Brunhilde, Chifuyu Orimura." The herald announced to the people within the room.

There was a scattering of applause in the room as the various reporters and major players in the IS industry welcomed Ichika and Chifuyu.

Ichika scanned his surroundings, hoping for familiar faces.

_Alright, there's Sir Howsham. I've met with him before. He's the primary person behind funding Cecilia-san's IS and activities. I've met him once before. He was the one who bought the original Blue Tears design off of Tabane-nee when we put it up for bidding. I didn't really get the how it worked, all I understood was the results. That was all I really needed._

Sir Howsham bore a distinct resemblance to Winston Churchill in his later years. He was in bright blue tuxedo designed to match his country's prototype 3rd generation IS.

Ichika's eyes moved past Howsham.

_Ah, to my right is Herr Vogel. He is in charge of the German candidate that I understand is transferring to the Academy soon. They bought the concept of AIC from Tabane-nee a couple of years ago, and are only now putting it into production. I think that their new rep is going to have one in her IS._

Vogel was a tall man, with sharp, commanding features and pale skin. His dusty-blonde hair was short and wavy, and his eyes were steely-gray and as sharp as his features. Of the men present, he seemed almost underdressed in a traditional black tuxedo.

Continuing his scan, Ichika catches the eyes of a short, chubby Chinese man with a long black ponytail in a violet suit. Ichika bowed slightly, and the man returned the bow before resuming his conversation with the people nearby.

_And there is Zhang-san, who is Rin-san's primary funder and the one who got what became the ShenLong from Tabane-nee._

Ichika completed his scan.

_Huh. Guessing by what the majority of men here are wearing, the men all had the same idea and wear a tuxedo that matches their_ _IS. Odd... _

As they approached the refreshment table (bar) in the back, Chifuyu practically dragging Ichika in that direction with an iron grip from which there was no escape, Ichika spotted a Frenchman with short, ash-brown hair and well-balanced facial features. He wore an impeccably tailored silk tuxedo, and an impeccably groomed goatee to match. The Frenchman was obviously eyeing Chifuyu, despite there being a... boy? No, child, with him.

_That must be Mr. Dunois. I've heard about him. I hope I can get through this easily. That child is young enough to be his. I wonder if... Better assume so..._

Chifuyu was carrying a delicate glass of pale, bubbly liquid.

"Damn fancy parties. Where's my beer when I need it?" She muttered.

Chifuyu pulled at Ichika's arm and advanced towards the center of the ballroom, where the host of the party was waiting for them. When they reached him, they bowed deeply.

"Chifuyu-kun, Ichika-kun," Arakaki began as they straightened.

"Welcome. I am glad that you decided to come."

"It is no problem at all, headmaster," replied Chifuyu.

"When I heard that you had directly requested for my brother to come, of course I would come as well. As you know, I _am _his legal guardian."

The headmaster raised an eyebrow and turned to Ichika.

"And you, Ichika-kun?" The headmaster asked.

Ichika bowed again.

"As the only male at your school, I am honored to attend. I have what is likely by now a notorious dislike of reporters within the school grounds, but I hope that those here will be a little more... professional." Ichika calmly replied.

Arakaki chortled.

"Well then, enjoy the party, Chifuyu-kun, Ichika-kun." He told them, nodding at each as he said their names.

"Chifuyu-nee, where do you want to go now?" Ichika asked.

"Honestly? Home. In absence of that, I want some beer to drink. I'm too sober for this shit and I hate champagne. I want something with a bite to it to drink." Chifuyu muttered.

Ichika laughed.

"Just bear with it, Chifuyu-nee."

Ichika caught out of the corner of his eye the Frenchman and his child dismissing themselves from their previous conversation and heading towards him and Chifuyu.

"Chifuyu-nee, Frenchman incoming..." He whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

Chifuyu groaned.

_Frenchmen. Always. Flirt. It is an art to them. They always flirt with her, and she doesn't like it much._

Upon reaching them, the elder Frenchman spoke up first.

"Ahh, mademoiselle, it is an honor to meet you at last." The man said in impeccable Japanese. Chifuyu held out her hand to shake his, and he turned it, bending to brush his lips to her fingers.

_He's laying it on thick..._

Chifuyu grimaced, as if in pain, and removed her hand quickly.

"_I _am Claude Dunois. You must be Ichika. I have heard _so_ much about you from _all _of my engineers. I hope you will take good care of me tonight." The man said in impeccable, even by French standards, French.

Ichika reached and shook his hand, gripping more firmly than necessary, smiling.

"Ah. My sister does not know much French, and although I do know more than she, I'm afraid my pronunciation will not meet your excellent standards, monsieur. My French is not nearly as fluent as your Japanese." Ichika responded in barely passable French.

Claude Dunois chuckled.

"Very well, Ichika-kun. I will say, however, that your French was better than what I expected." He said in Japanese. Curtly beckoning to the child behind him, he commanded in French,

"Charles, introduce yourself."

The boy, as he would surely be a boy, going by his name, stepped forward and bowed. He had long blonde hair in a ponytail that went down most of his back and blue eyes. His tuxedo matched his father's.

"I-I am Charles Dunois." He said in exceedingly polite Japanese.

The elder Dunois patted his son's shoulder.

"My son is also capable of piloting an IS. Sometime shortly after your class representative tournament, he will be transferring into your class as the French Representative Candidate. He will, of course, be using our latest model as his personal IS." The elder Dunois explained, smiling smugly.

_I see... that's why they want the design now._

"Well then, I hope to see him soon." Ichika replied politely.

Satisfied that he had met the proper formalities with Ichika, Claude turned to Chifuyu, offering his arm to her.

"Mademoiselle Chifuyu, would you honor me with this dance?" He asked, extending his arm and bowing slightly.

She glared at Ichika. He waved her off. She sighed.

"Very well, Dunois-san. But only one." She said politely.

_Ohh... she's going to need to go back to the bar after this. She may hate champagne, but at least she can get drunk off it._

"Please, Chifuyu, call me Claude." He said. Claude turned to Ichika and Charles, and noted Chitsugu in the background.

"Ichika-kun, would you be so kind as to introduce my son to some of your friends from around here?" He asked in French.

Ichika nodded once, curtly.

"What was that about, Dunois-san?" Chifuyu narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Oh, I was just asking Ichika-kun to show my son around the party and explain a few things about the academy. And _please_, Chifuyu, call me Claude.

He whisked her away and Ichika thought he could hear him say,

"I must say, Chifuyu, your dress is absolutely marvelous..."

Ichika was now alone with Charles and Chitsugu. He turned to the young man next to him.

"Did your father tell you anything about why I'm here?" Ichika asked.

"I-I know about the meeting..." Charles responded.

Ichika paused.

_Huh... I guess Claude-san wants me to trust Charles-kun... like that's going to happen..._

"Okay. Well, then. I suppose I should introduce you to some of the people around here, as our respective guardians are currently... occupied." Ichika began.

"Chifuyu-nee doesn't know about the meetings. I would be willing to bet that your father is buying time for us." Ichika began walking towards the nearest person he knew, Howsham.

"How did you learn French, O-Orimura-kun?" Charles asked.

"From what I've heard from my father, most foreigners don't bother learning French..."

"Please, call me Ichika. As to how I know, well... I like to understand what's being said around me, so I learned enough of English, French, Chinese and German to make people think I might understand enough of what they're saying to know their intent. It makes people more honest. And in what I do here, that is crucial. Do you know any English, Charles-kun?"

They were about half-way to the British knight now.

"N-No..."

"Then, I shall do the talking at the start."

_Judging by how your father was treating you, you're probably used to that anyway._

The had gotten within speaking range of Howsham, who excused himself from the women whom he was speaking to.

"Good evening, Mr. Orimura. What brings you here tonight?" He asked in English.

"The French, Sir Howsham. Sir Howsham, may I present to you Charles Dunois, son of Claude Dunois." Ichika gestured at Charles.

"His father has asked me to introduce him to the people I know around here, and I chose to start with you." Ichika finished in above-average English.

Howsham took Charles' hand and shook it rigorously.

"Nice to meet you, Charles-kun." He said in Japanese.

"A-Ah, me, too, Howsham-san." Charles responded nervously.

Howsham laughed.

"He really is different from you, Orimura-kun."

Howsham paused.

"What do you think of Alcott's performance so far? I heard she challenged you to a match shortly after your first day at the school." He said, chuckling.

Ichika smiled.

"Yes, she challenged me when I refused to relinquish the title of class rep to her just because she was an actual national representative candidate, not to mention the fact that I was male." He said, laughing.

Howsham laughed with him and nodded.

"Yes, she is like that. When you are in the business long enough, Orimura-kun, you get used to it."

Ichika noticed a crowd gathering around him.

_Huh. I guess more people wanted to know about this than I had anticipated..._

"Yeah, anyway. She complained about how unimportant Japan is, as well as how underdeveloped its culture is and how much of an insult it is for her to have to even be here, let alone have a _man_ as her class representative." Ichika smiled at the thought.

_No need to make her look too bad, though._

Howsham was smiling.

"Yes, Alcott-kun has been like that before. What happened next, Orimura-kun?" Howsham asked excitedly.

"I told her that the class representative should be whomever is most capable within the class, using the average of our academic grades and piloting ability, even if that is not either us."

Ichika noticed that Vogel and Zhang were now in the crowd as well. Vogel looked quite amused.

"Chifuyu-nee made the contest official. I knew Alcott-san would accept, because her piloting ability is top-notch, and she didn't look or sound like the sort to have bad grades, so she wouldn't have any reason to back away from the challenge." Ichika explained. He smiled at the memory.

"What happened, Orimura-kun? I know that you won, but that's it."

Ichika laughed.

"I got a perfect score in all subjects, even after Chifuyu-nee had it sent to other teachers to grade, to insure impartiality. Then, I took advantage of a large psychological weakness of Alcott-san's in our battle." Ichika paused for dramatic effect.

"She was so confident in her ability to win and in my own incompetence that she could not think anything I was might do, as there was no way I could beat her. Since I had Chifuyu-nee train me, I knew some of what to expect in combat. My IS had only just arrived right before the match, so Chifuyu-nee told me to go through formatting during combat. I took advantage of the smoke that her rifle blasts created when I dodged them to hide for cover, hoping to activate First Shift, then came around from behind. She deployed her bits, so I had to dodge. I managed to break the first few- I didn't know you had to pull them back- and in the second round against them, threw my sword to destroy the last. I closed the distance between us, but she fired her missiles. When did you add those?"

Howsham laughed.

"After we got our hands on the design. We couldn't get access to enough of the materials fast enough for the bits to power themselves, and we wanted missiles added on."

"Ah, okay. Anyway, the missiles hit me, and my machine saved me by activating First Shift. I got a huge burst in speed, plus a sword identical to the one that Chifuyu-nee used in the Mondo Grosso, so I ended up bisecting her rifle then struck one of wings to end the match. I helped her down to the ground, and after the match I bowed, thanked her, and left. I never mentioned the match to her again." Ichika finished his tale.

"What do you think of her suit, knowing some of what Tabane-kun would say, Orimura-kun?" Howsham asked.

"It's an excellent IS, well suited for its purpose, but the pilot is a little too arrogant and probably isn't that used to teamwork, which is sad, because that is the exact kind of IS that needs an IS built for CQC to really shine." Ichika replied thoughtfully.

_I hope I didn't offend them too much..._

Howsham looked him over for a few seconds, then started chuckling.

"Hah! To be honest, Orimura-kun, I obtained a video of the match itself. I think you are absolutely correct, though I do appreciate you trying to be respectful by not mentioning her insults." He grabbed a champagne glass off of the tray of a passing server. The other men and women around Ichika and Charles did the same.

"Everyone! I propose a toast, to Ichika Orimura, the strongest man!" Howsham called. Every person around them raised their glasses in agreement, and drank it all down.

_Great. That'll be on the headlines tomorrow._

As the people began to disperse, Ichika called,

"Ah! Vogel-san, Zhang-san!"

They turned to look at him.

"This is Charles Dunois. I've been asked by his father, Claude Dunois, to introduce him to all of my acquaintances around here."

Vogel and Zhang stopped and rejoined Ichika and Charles.

"It is nice to meet you, Dunois-kun. Your father is an old friend of mine." Vogel said politely.

"Dunois-kun, do you know why Orimura-kun is here?" Zhang asked Charles.

"To a degree, sir." Charles bowed.

Zhang smiled, and slapped Charles on the back. Charles let out a little squeak.

"Good kid!" Zhang called. He began to talk to Charles about what Charles knew about IS'. Vogel looked at Ichika.

"I must say, I enjoyed hearing the story of you showing that British noblewoman how the world works, Orimura." He began in German.

Ichika smiled professionally.

"I'm afraid we are going to have to cut this short, Herr Vogel, as my sister looks to be done dancing with Mr. Dunois, and she will need a drink. I assume that you have met her before, and I know she will not appreciate it if she knew that I know you, personally or professionally." Ichika explained calmly in German.

Ichika bowed lowly.

"Come along, Charles-kun." He commanded.

Charles looked confused for a second, waving his hands around and looking between Ichika and the two men, then bowed lowly and said,

"I'm sorry if he came off as rude." Charles said, before running to catch up with Ichika and Chitsugu.

Ichika, as Charles noticed when he arrived, was feeling rather apprehensive. Claude was trying to kiss Chifuyu on the cheek. For about a half of a second. She slapped him, and stormed off, towards the women's restrooms.

_HOW DARE HE! DOES HE EVEN UNDERSTAND HOW THIS CULTURE WORKS? HE WILL PAY HE WILL PAY HE WILL PAY HE WILL-_

"Ichika-san?" Charles asked.

"Don't be mad. My father probably knew nothing about what that actually means in Japanese culture, in France it's just a greeting."

Ichika took deep breaths.

_He's right. He's right. He's right. Calm. Down. You must be professional in dealing with him. You can tell Tabane-nee all about it later. You can convince her not to sabotage this poor, poor guy who has such a father. No... your sister's revenge will be personal and served cold._

Chifuyu, re-emerged from the powder room, and approached Ichika.

"I'm leaving. You can stay for a half an hour. After that, we're leaving. I'll be in the limo. Chitsugu-san will keep you out of trouble. Behave." She barked. She strode purposefully out of the room, eyes locked ahead.

Ichika approached Claude.

"Dunois-san. A kiss is far more meaningful in Japan than it is in France. I am rather unhappy with you, but I am going assume you know nothing of our culture, so I do not feel as though you are to blame. _Please_ do not say anything to change my mind. I would like us to take care of our business now."

Claude glared at Ichika.

"Of course." He responded in French.

Claude nodded at a couple of other Frenchmen and some bodyguards to follow him, and led Ichika to a private room. As they left, Ichika purposefully nodded to Arakaki. The room had a long table with about a dozen chairs on it, and a pull-down white screen that had a projector that could be wirelessly connected with. The bodyguards stood behind Claude, who was seated at the head of the table, with his son on his left and his R&D head on his right. Ichika stood in front of the white screen, and Chitsugu was in the back corner of the room.

"Orimura-kun, I assume you want to get right down to business?" Claude asked, already expecting the answer.

"Yes, sir." Ichika responded.

"Very well. What do you have for us?"

Ichika connected his phone to the projector. The screen lit up, covered in blueprints.

"This... Is the Raphael Revive Mk. 2." Ichika stated.

"At least, that's what Alice-san likes to call it."

He pointed at the wings.

"Acceleration has a 50% increase from the previous model. We've managed to double the amount of energy it can hold, while still adding a bit of armor. Its handling and braking are both also increased from the Mk. 1 model."

The R&D department head inhaled sharply. Claude whistled.

"But, these are what I would use sell it not its actual new features."

Ichika smiled.

"The real reason that the Raphael Revive has been so popular is that it's incredibly customizable. It always has been highly compatible with all sorts of weaponry and equalizers."

The R&D department head nodded. Claude looked thoughtful.

"Alice-san has taken this into account. As such, the Raphael Revive Mk. 2 has **double** the previous number of bus slots. Not only that, but included in this package are extra types of equalizers. You could have an IS equipped with a long-range package and a package for CQC and it would be able to switch roles and weapons near-instantaneously. Or, you could have the IS further specialize in the mid-range artillery role, for instance." Ichika paused again.

The R&D department head's eyes went wide. Claude had a greedy look in his eyes.

"But what about actual 3rd Generation technology?" Claude asked.

"The imaging technology for the Mk. 2 was used not for weaponry or armor, but rather for two different features. The first one: this IS is capable of short-range teleportation, though it will use about half of your remaining shield energy. The more energy you have, the farther you teleport."

The R&D head gasped.

"The second, and better, feature, is that this IS can add any equalizer that has been equipped on it before to its database. Once it has been added, when the pilot is summoning it, the pilot can choose which equalizers from the IS' database are installed when the IS comes out. In exchange for this, the IS takes about twice as long as normal to install a new equalizer. Do you any questions, or should we move on?"

"What is the price?" Claude stated.

"2 billion Euros."

The R&D department head covered his mouth in shock. That was half his yearly budget.

"1 billion Euros." Claude said.

"Not enough." Ichika responded.

"1.25 billion Euros." Claude said.

"1.75 billion." Ichika told him.

"1.40 billion, Orimura-kun."

"1.50 billion, Claude-san, and that's final."

Claude grunted.

"It's a deal." He said.

Ichika took the memory drive out of his pocket.

"The location of pickup is on that drive, tomorrow night. Put the money in a suitcase locked by a computer, and replace the blueprints with the suitcase."

"Alright, Orimura-kun." Claude said. He stood and motioned towards his bodyguards, R&D head, and son. They left the room.

Ichika waited about five minutes, then re-entered the ball room from a different entrance than the one that they had used, Chitsugu shadowing him all the while. He approached the school headmaster.

"I will be retiring for the night, Arakaki-san. Chifuyu-nee has already left, but I had some business to take care of. I might not return to the school until tomorrow afternoon. Chifuyu-nee gets in a bad mood sometimes, and when that happens, she'll not be leaving the house for a bit." Ichika bowed deeply.

"If you'll excuse me." He strode out of the building, and got into the car with Chifuyu. She glared at him.

"You have some explaining to do, Orimura."

_Oh shit._

XXXXXXXX


	6. Chapter 5: Reprecussions and a Battle

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text _means Ichika's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

Saturday night

Orimura family limo

Chifuyu was sitting across from Ichika, her arms crossed and left leg folded over her right. She was frowning and glaring at Ichika.

"Orimura, we need to have a Talk." She began,

"There is something you need to tell me, _isn't there_?"

Ichika looked to side to side.

_The limo is already moving. Both doors are locked. I'm trapped. Chifuyu-nee would be even more angry if I were to try to run anyway._

Ichika's reaction did not go unnoticed by his sister.

"W-What do you want to know, Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika asked, panicked.

_I already know this answer..._

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked him.

"A-About m-my d-deal T-Tabane-nee? B-because I didn't want you to worry." He replied.

_This is not going well..._

"In other words, you didn't trust me enough to tell me?" She asked.

_No! No, that's not..._

"I was worried that you would stop me if I told you..." He mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"In other words, you didn't trust me. You don't trust me enough to tell me about your job." Chifuyu pressed,

"You don't trust me enough, even now. You just tried to find a way out, didn't you?"

_No! Yes! But... that's just a reaction... automatic... it's not..._

Ichika's face made him look as a deer caught in the headlights. He kept on moving his mouth, as though he was trying to form words.

"Orimura. You can't even trust me, your own sister. If you can't trust your family, who _can_ you trust? Tabane? Gotanda? You would trust either of them more than your own sister?" Chifuyu asked, her voice flat. Flat and emotionless.

_That's even worse! Get mad at me! Be disappointed in me! Be _something_ besides calm! Show emotion, be riled up for once!_

Ichika's mouth was still moving, but not forming any words.

"From now on, while we are school, we are not siblings. We are teacher and student. You will call me 'Orimura-sensei,' and I will call you 'Orimura'. Are we clear?"

Ichika nodded. His eyes were watering.

_No... I'm sorry, Chifuyu-nee..._

"Yes, Orimura-sensei." He choked sadly.

The rest of the drive back to the Academy was spent in silence.

XXXXXXXX

Sunday, 2:30 A.M.

IS Academy dorms, Ichika's room

After writing about the party, Ichika shut his diary and shuddered. Sadly, he placed his diary back under his mattress and sighed.

_I'm sorry, Chifuyu-nee... I won't let you down again..._

He took out his phone, dialing Tabane's number.

"Hi hi! Genius girl, Tabane-san, at your service! What is it, Ikkun?" Her voice was far, far too chipper for this late at night.

"Orimura-sensei just found out." Ichika said with a bluntness that had the sheer force of his immense exhaustion behind it.

"..."

_Wow. This is the first time that I've actually caused her to stop talking._

"Also, Claude-san bought the item. 1.5 billion. I gave him the drop-off point, told him to get it tonight."

"That's great Ikkun! I knew I was right to count on you! What do you want me to do about Chi-chan?" She was back to her chipper self.

"Nothing." Ichika responded dryly.

"Is that all, Ikkun?" Tabane asked.

"Yes. Good night, Tabane-nee."

"Good night, Ikkun!" Ichika snapped the phone shut and pressed it against his lips, thinking.

_The modifications on the IS are complete. I just need a match to test the bits in. The class representative tournament is coming up Friday, which means that I need to be ready before then. I wonder if I could convince Cecilia-san to... no... she would love to do it. No problems there. Chifuyu-nee probably won't forgive me for a while. I wonder what I'm going to have to do..._

XXXXXXXX

Monday morning

IS Academy, class 1-1

"...Yes, thank you. To make up for it, I'll treat next time we go to the arcades. Sure." Ichika snapped his phone shut.

_Now all I have to do is wait._

A classmate of Ichika's approached him.

"Orimura-kun, what was that about?" She asked.

She seemed simply curious.

_Finally, a chance._

"Oh, that was a friend of mine. There were some people who wanted to study with me, and she was asking about it. I told her honestly that I find studying in private with anybody I don't really know very well, be it just the two of us or in a group, to be a little too... intimate for my tastes." Ichika explained simply.

The girl's eyes widened and she gulped.

"Intimate?" She asked.

"Why, yes. I mean, poring over books, in private... in darkly-lit room except for the light by our table... that is a little too intimate for friends, right?" Ichika asked innocently.

"Y-Yes!" His classmate responded, blood rushing to her face. He could hear chattering from the gossip magnets behind him, and they spread off to tell the news.

_Excellent._

Ichika then approached the English representative candidate.

"Cecilia-san." He began.

She perked up, and turned to face him.

"What is it, Ichika-san?" She asked cheerfully.

"I was just thinking, Cecilia-san, and I'm realizing that I just... don't have enough experience compared to most of the other people in the class representative tournament." Ichika said, hopelessly.

"Well, that is most certainly true, Ichika-san. However, you beat me quite soundly. I do not really see any need for you to have more experience with your IS than what you already have." Cecilia responded haughtily.

"After all, if you can beat an elite like me, why should you need any more practice?"

"The IS is always optimizing itself to the pilot's preferences, right? In that case, wouldn't it be good for me to have more piloting time?" Ichika questioned.

"Yes, but can't you just have Orimura-sensei take care of it?" She asked.

_Good. From here, it's simple._

"Well, I could, but after that party I was at Saturday, I'm rather afraid of asking Orimura-sensei for help. Besides, as you are the English Representative, shouldn't it be your job as an elite to make sure your class rep is as skilled as possible? I'm asking you because, quite frankly, you're the best for the job."

Cecilia blushed at that, and started coughing into her hand.

"W-well, if you really think so, I'll meet you in the practice arena after classes are dismissed."

XXXXXXXX

After classes

IS Academy, training arena

Cecilia was in the observation area, along with Houki. Ichika was in the arena, preparing to activate his IS. Cecilia and Houki each had a communicator connected to Ichika's IS' chat channel.

_Okay, let's see if the melee types work. Oh, and I'll try out the smokers today. I have enough bus slots for a dozen or so, so I think I'll be good. Four smokers and eight blades, let's go. _

"Ichika-san, why aren't you deploying your IS?" Cecilia asked over the comm systems.

"Sorry Cecilia-san, it takes a little longer than usual due to some special features I have." Ichika responded.

He focused on his IS, Byakushiki. It came into being, but it looked different from that time he fought Cecilia.

"I-Ichika-san... Are those...?" Cecilia stuttered.

Ichika's IS had eight little bladed attack bits mounted on the wings. Not only that, but there was a box mounted at the top back of each wing that each had an extra set of thrusters and a pair of two bits that had wide-firing laser barrels.

Ichika looked up at the observation deck.

"Long story short, the designer of my IS played too many video games. Byakushiki can copy special systems on any IS it records in its database, and utilize them as equalizers. In this case, I decided that having some bits similar to what Blue Tears has would be... helpful."

_Of course, the reason that I had the data for the creation of these systems was thanks to you, but I don't really need to mention that._

"It's another reason I wanted your help. I'm not quite sure how these are supposed to work."

"It's simple. You direct them with your mind. I just picture a pulled trigger to fire mine, but I'm not quite sure how you'll want to work yours. I can give you guidance if you want, but even an Elite like myself can't really say. It's different for everyone."

_Useless, huh? I guess I should have known._

Ichika sighed, disappointed.

"Thanks anyway, Cecilia-san."

He smiled.

"I-It's no problem. I-If I can't help our class leader, what kind of an elite am I?" Cecilia stuttered, blood rushing to her face.

Houki sighed.

"I'll just turn on the target practice mode now…" Houki muttered.

Ichika looked at the holographic targets, and released the first sword bit.

_Direct them with your mind… picture a trigger…_

XXXXXXXX

Tuesday morning

IS Academy, main hallway.

As Ichika approached the hallway, he heard the clambering of many girls as they chattered excitedly with each other.

_Okay, so… what do I know? Today, the matchups for the Class Representative tournament were supposed to be announced. That just so happens to be the exact location that they were planned to be announced at. They are excited about that. No extra rumors, nothing else. Pure excitement about the matchups. I hope._

Ichika approached the matchups. All of the girls stopped chattering to look at him and stepped out of his way as he reached the matchups.

_What the hell is with them?_

On the matchup sheet was class 1-1 vs. 1-4.

_Against Rin-san, huh? What's so…_

Ichika saw the note that was attached to the bottom of the board.

_**Dear Ichika,**_

_**I won't forgive you for rejecting me! Just friends? What the hell kind of idiotic excuse is that? I refuse to accept this! You should settle this like a man: whichever one of us wins in our match has to apologize to the other! I won't forgive you if you surrender, so don't even try, idiot! You're an idiot and I won't forgive you!**_

_**Lingyin Huang**_

_Heh. She really did it. I think this letter is a bit… overblown, but it'll certainly get the job done. Now, to react appropriately._

Ichika looked around at the crowd of girls, his face a mixture of shame and anger. He located a girl in class 1-4.

_Good. There is one here..._

He turned back around, and scribbled something on a sheet of paper. He walked over to face Rin's classmate, and handed the sheet of paper to her, shaking with what appears to be barely restrained anger. His face was twisted and contorted with rage. The girl looked up at him and squealed.

"Make sure that girl gets this. Don't wait to give it to her. Go." Ichika growled.

The poor girl yelped and ran off. Ichika began to stalk to his classroom.

_Oh god. I need to go somewhere nobody can hear me. That went perfectly. Need to laugh it off._

"AAHHH!" Ichika screamed. Something, or someone, was holding him from behind, with their arms wrapped around his neck. He immediately tensed significantly.

"Orimura-kun, that was sooo rude. You scared the daylights out of the poor little girl. Making a face like that ruins you good looks, you know. What's wrong, anyway? You're soo tense. Do you need this onee-san to help you… relax?" She (for the voice was unmistakably female) asked.

Ichika brought his arms up, grabbed on to the arm out front, and executed a throw, landing the girl on the ground. He looked down at her, with cold eyes. He then noticed her necktie was red, which indicated that she was a third year.

"Who are you, who sent you, what is their objective, and how did they get you in this school?" He asked flatly, while holding her down on her back with his right knee.

"W-What did you say, Orimura-kun?" She asked him, hysteria, anger and amazement fighting for control over her voice.

"You heard me. Who are you? Who sent you? What is their objective? How did they get you in here?"

Most of the girls were watching this scene with great interest. However, soon enough, all interesting things must come to an end. The girls parted for a teacher.

Ichika heard footsteps, and looked over to see his sister approaching him, attendance book in hand. There was fire in her eyes, though her face was impassive.

_Oh shit. Ohshit. Ohshitohshitohshitohshiiit. Better greet her. Explain my side of the story._

"Chi-" He began.

A loud thunk echoed across the hall as Chifuyu hit him on the head with the attendance book.

"Orimura-sensei at school. What did you do _this_ time, Orimura?" She demanded.

"O-Orimura-sensei, this girl came after me from behind!" Ichika responded accusingly.

"I can tell that just from the grab that you are using. What I want to know is why you just threw one of your senpais."

"B-But she-" Ichika began to argue.

"Surprised you. And so you threw her. I'm not seeing the logic behind this."

"She _touched_ me!"

Chifuyu sighed. All the girls were looking at each other and chattering rapidly.

Chifuyu looked at Ichika directly.

"Ichika. You _are_ safe here. We aren't going to let anyone who is after you in here. Now, let her go, and we can get to class."

Ichika looked at the third-year and sighed. He let her go.

Chifuyu hit him on the head with the attendance book.

"Ow! What was that for, Chifuy-"

Thunk.

"Orimura-sensei. Show proper respect for your seniors. Now, apologize." She ordered.

Ichika turned to look at the third year.

"I am sorry for my misbehavior, senpai!" He said, bowing lowly.

He held out his hand.

"Would you like help up?" He asked politely.

The third-year slapped his hand away.

"No, I will be just fine." She hissed, and strode off.

_How dare she embarrass me like this... I'll show her..._

Chifuyu set her hand on Ichika's shoulder firmly.

"No." She ordered flatly.

Chifuyu turned to look at the gathered girls.

"What are you all standing around there for? Get to class! Now!" She barked.

_Why couldn't that senpai have just kept her hands to herself?_

XXXXXXXX

After classes

IS Academy, classroom 1-1

Ichika was fidgeting, twirling his pen, looking sullen. Houki approached him. Ichika twirled his pen a bit more.

"Ichika." Houki stated.

Ichika played with his pen a bit more.

_I don't feel like this. Just leave me alone._

"Ichika!" She stated forcefully.

Ichika angrily glared at her.

"What?" He asked flatly.

"I-I heard you got into a f-fight with a s-senior. W-What do you think you're doing, g-getting into fights? A-Are you t-turning into a d-delinquent?" Houki stuttered out, cheeks coloring.

Ichika sighed.

"I don't want to talk about it. Leave me alone." He told her flatly. He picked up his books and strode out of the classroom, heading for the practice arena.

"Ichika! You can't hide from it forever!" She called after him.

_If I can fly, I'll be fine. As long as I'm free to fly, nothing will go wrong. Nothing can go wrong if I can fly. With flight, I am free. The air isn't trying to kill me, nor is the sky. I can trust the Earth, I can trust nature- it isn't actively antagonistic. I trust people that I don't know, people who don't know me- they don't have any reason to hate me or betray me. They don't have any reason not to either, so if I manipulate their perceptions of me, it doesn't really matter. No, it's the people who know me that I can't trust. They could be after anything from me, and can betray me. However, as long as I can fly, I am free. _

_As long as I can fly..._

XXXXXXXX

Friday, the matches

IS Academy, arena

Ichika was about to materialize Byakushiki when he saw Chifuyu approach. Sighing, he waited for her to speak.

"Orimura." Chifuyu stated.

"I don't know what you said to Huang, or Shinonono, but they aren't talking to you. I don't know about Alcott, either. Just... don't lose, alright. As your teacher, I'm worried about you if you just push everyone away." Her arms were crossed, and she stared at him.

Ichika sighed inwardly and mentally rolled his eyes.

_Why can't you just say that you're worried because your little brother has no friends in school? Oh. Right, you're still mad at me and so we aren't going to do that..._

"Right, Chifuyu-nee." He said dully.

Thunk. She threw the attendance book, and left her body in a position like she just pitched a baseball.

"Orimura-sensei." She snapped, returning to a straight posture.

"Right, right..." He responded.

Ichika materialized Byakushiki and calmly strode out to the arena.

_Alright, how am I looking here? I got a new bus slot on Wednesday, so I've installed extra smoker for today. However, from what I've heard, Rin-san also uses an IS built for CQC, which means that I might be hard pressed for being able to use cover like that. The first thing I should do is use True Sight before the match starts, to see what I'm dealing with._

Ichika stepped out of the loading bay, and flew before Rin.

Her IS was mostly violet-colored. The hands and lower arms were well-armored, and the legs seemed to have less armor to ensure speed. The wings were a pair of black orbs with black spikes that go diagonally out and downward, and violet spikes that go diagonally up and back. On the back of the IS was a scimitar, which was the size of the IS and violet markings on the side of the blade.

**IS not in database detected.**

**Proceed with scan?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

"Ichika! You know that if I win, I'll make you apologize, right? I'm thinking that you'll do it in front of the entire school! Oh, I know, I'll make you do it at breakfast. Loudly." Rin called, glee at the prospect clear in her voice.

_Rin-san is getting really into this. I would almost think that she's not... oh, wait. She probably isn't. I'm actually going to have to try to win?_

"And if I win, I'll have you apologize for shaming me in public like that! I have my pride too, you know!" Ichika responded, anger readily available for his voice.

**Scan complete.**

Ichika looked at the screen with the Shenlong's specs. He betrayed no look on his face about the results.

_Two huge scimitars that combine into a dual bladed staff? And impact cannons installed into the wings? Well, no point in using the smokers for this one. Should let them sit it out. She would just blow the smoke away._

**Save IS special weapons to database?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

The countdown beeper for the match ended.

"BEGIN!" Chifuyu called.

_Alright, those impact cannons will probably hurt like hell. The only way to deal with this is to disable them or end the match before they can fire at me. I doubt I'll be able to do the latter, so I'm going to have to stick with the former. Hm..._

Rin drew both of her scimitars and started spinning them, then stopped and flew at Ichika. Ichika flew the in opposite direction from Rin, trying to keep his distance. He threw two sword bits, one from each hand, at Rin. She easily parried both, and barely looked to notice where they would land.

"Weak! You spent a week practicing for _that_? You really are terrible at this!" She taunted.

As Rin talked, Ichika silently deployed two of his smoker bits around behind himself and sent them over around Rin. He had them cover the lower part of the arena with smoke.

"I guess I'll just end it here!" She cried.

One of the wings began to charge up golden energy. Ichika summoned Yukihira, but didn't active its fold-out armor. He activated his one-off ability, Ignition Boost.

_I didn't _only_ spend my time with those bits. That's just what I allowed to be public. Ignition boost will increase my speed enough that I should be able to push her back a bit._

Ichika flew straight at Rin, dodging the blasts from her impact cannon based off of its trajectory and how he felt the air shifting.

_One of those will probably do me in. God, it's just like playing Touhou._

He managed to reach her, but she put her scimitars together into the bladed staff.

_Shit, that thing has more swinging power than I thought. If I get too close, the staff will take me out. If I get too far, I'll just be in trouble from the Impact Cannons again. Need to get rid of the cannons fast..._

Ichika navigated himself so that Rin was pushing him back towards the point where his two sword bits had landed.

_Good... just a little bit farther..._

With Rin's back turned to the bits, Ichika held still for a moment, activating the blade bits. He felt the bits charge upwards to Rin, as he felt her resuming her attack.

_Re-calculate destination for movement of target._ _Alright, let's get this party started._

Ichika, as his blade bits behind Rin became visible, activated the fold-out armor on his Yukihira, took it in both hands and flew straight into Rin's swing. He swung his sword up and to the left, blocking the top blade of Rin's staff with the bottom part of his blade, only to let go of Yukihira with his left hand and grabbed a blade bit. He used this bit to block the bottom of Rin's double-bladed staff, and locked her staff in place. She began to move back and charge up her Impact Cannon.

Both of the bits targeting Rin from behind struck their marks at the center of her wings. As they both had a barrier-nullifying attack like Yukihira, they both pierced straight through the wings on Rin's unit, deactivating both impact cannons. As a side effect of this, Rin's shield energy was drained and the absolute defense kicked in.

_There. I won._

BOOM! Three golden laser blasts pierced the arena's shield and created huge clouds of smoke before Ichika and Rin. The blast shields went up and covered the audience.

_What the hell?_

A comm window appeared on Ichika's HUD.

"Orimura-kun! Take Huang-san and get out of there! Let the teachers deal with this!" Yamada told Ichika forcefully.

_Wow, I've never heard her assert herself that much before._

"Understood, Yamada-sensei. Leaving now." Ichika responded.

_Shit. What the hell is that thing? Is it after me? Is it after my data? My IS? What's its objective? No matter. If I just let the teachers handle it, no problems can occur. That thing might even just be from terrorists. The arena had a massively powerful shield, far more powerful than what our IS' have, and that thing just pierced it._

_In other words, that thing could easily kill me. I'm taking Rin-san and getting out of here._

"Ichika." Rin stated flatly.

"What is it, Rin-san? You've already lost, so you can't really fight it." Ichika responded, just as flatly.

"What kind of a man are you?" She asked him.

"What?" Ichika responded, confused.

"What the hell kind of an idiotic man are you? That, over there, is an _**enemy**_. What do you do to your enemies?" Rin asked him, anger clear in her voice.

"Run away because they can kill me if they feel like it. Why do you think I avoid so many different places?" Ichika responded.

"Because you are a _coward_, that's why." Rin snarled.

"You don't want to face anything that you won't like. You can't take responsibility for anything, because you're too _afraid_ of what would happen if you own up to your actions. Tell me this, Ichika. Is there any that you _aren't _afraid of? Is there anything you would be willing to set aside your fear to fight for?"

"**Shut up**!" Ichika shouted.

"**You don't know the first thing about why I'm so afraid. You don't know what it **_**means **_**to be afraid. So shut the **_**hell**_** up and get out of here!**"

Ichika roughly set Rin down at the emergency exit, then pounded on the door. It was locked and very sturdy.

_Shit. How the hell am I supposed to deal with that thing?_

Ichika saw a symbol for a call on his HUD. He answered it.

"Hiii, Ikkun! Genius girl Tabane-san here!" A far, far too cheery voice called.

_Oh god._

"What is it, Alice-san?"

"I'm soo disappointed in you... I thought you would fight the unmanned drone that I sent, but to think that you would just run..." She said, her happy voice feigning disappointment.

_Oh. That changes everything. This situation isn't out of control. It's just in Tabane-nee's control._

Ichika started to chuckle.

"Can I break it?" He asked.

"That's the whole point Ikkun! 100 points to you!" Tabane responded. She closed the comm link.

Ichika looked down at Rin.

"I'll take care of it. Try not to get caught in the crossfire." Ichika said. He opened a comm link to the operations room that Chifuyu and Yamada were in.

"How long until the teachers get here?" He asked.

"Ten minutes at least, Orimura. Somebody hacked into the shield and we have the third-years on it, but it's taking a while. Just get out of there." Chifuyu responded.

"How long until evacuation is complete?" He pressed on.

"Ten minutes."

"That's too long. I'll take care of this guy. If the teachers get here in time,_ they_ can back _me _up."

"Orimura-" Chifuyu began. Ichika closed the comm link.

_Now, let's see what we have here._

The smoke in the arena parted to a laser. Ichika flew to the side and dodged.

_That wasn't meat to hit. That was a warning shot. This AI is smart._

The smoke cleared, and Ichika got a good look at his opponent.

The IS was black, with many yellow circles that looked like ports for cables all across its body. It had springs on its upper arms and the head had six red eyes. The IS had no wings, instead, the parts that would normally be wings were attached by some metal pillars to the arms. The arms were about as long as the unit was tall.

**IS not in database detected.**

**Proceed with scan?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

**Scanning...**

_Alright, this thing is most likely quite nasty. The first thing that I need to do is find out its armaments._

**Scan complete.**

_Holy shit, this 'Golem' has a lot of guns. How am I going to deal with this many lasers, hm? It's using heat detection, so my smokers aren't going to help much. That heavy armor might be hard to handle as well. On the bright side, it's unmanned, so I can just consider my objective to be the destruction of this thing. Hm, it has a jetpack, too..._

_Hm... Ah! Yes, this might work..._

Ichika deployed five of the blade bits and had them attach themselves at the center, then extend their energy blades outward. He took this in his left hand, and held Yukihira in his right. The golem fired a barrage of lasers at Ichika. He dodged most of them, but took a hit on each leg. Ichika's makeshift shield managed to block the rest.

_Good. It does work._

Ichika charged towards the golem, minimizing his size so that almost his entire IS was behind the shield relative to the golem. However, the golem was flying away from him as this happened, and so Ichika was not able to catch up with the Golem.

_Shit. Ignition boost is a one-off. I can't use it again. This isn't going the way I wanted it. Next time I'm getting some better projectile attacks. On the bright side, I'm starting to get used to this thing's attack patterns, but that's meaningless if this thing is faster than me..._

_Wait... as long as I preserve mass and materials, who says that I can't modify my bits while in combat? These things have rather nice amounts of speed anyway, and I don't think I programmed this shield in the first place..._

Ichika called all of his bits that weren't in the shield back into the boxes on the backs of his wings.

_Byakushiki, are modifications to my bits available?_

**Yes, sir.**

_Can you make the bits have claws that attach to me so that I can travel at a much higher velocity?_

**Yes, sir. Proceed with program?**

_Yes._

**I will require sixty seconds.**

_Understood._

_Now... I need to delay this thing for sixty seconds..._

Ichika flew into an upward spiral, gracefully dodging the various lasers while abandoning all pretext of trying to actually hit his target. He dematerialized Yukihira so that he could put all of his concentration into moving as fast as possible. Ichika slowed a little, before flying straight up as high as he could go.

He kept on climbing, higher and higher, until he reached the roof of the arena, constantly dodging more lasers.

_God, and I thought fighting with Rin-san was like playing Touhou..._

"What the hell are you doing, Orimura?" A new comm window was now on his HUD, projecting Chifuyu's voice.

"I thought you were trying to break that thing, not the arena!"

"I am. I'm just killing time. I'll be done with it in a couple of minutes." Ichika responded in a bored tone.

_Status on program?_

**95% Complete. Three...**

"Killing time?" Chifuyu screamed.

**Two...**

"Yes, of course I'm killing time. Got to go now, have an IS to break." Ichika responded.

**One...**

"Wait a minute, Orimura-" Chifuyu began.

_Oh god. I sense a lecture coming._

Ichika closed the comm window.

**Program complete. Proceed?**

_Yes._

Of course, during the entire duration of this conversation, the Golem was shooting at Ichika, whose makeshift shield, as well as shield energy, were now looking a little worse for the wear.

_Well, no other options..._

Ichika flew along the roofline, as high as he could go. As he was flying, he attached the booster-type bits to his IS. He split his shield and stored three of the sword bits away, keeping one in each of his hands. He kept flying until he was directly above the Golem, then took a sharp turn downwards.

Flying straight down at top speed, he angled himself so that he followed the Golem when it tried to move out of his path. The Golem kept on traveling away from him until eventually it was right above the ground and in front of a wall.

Ichika didn't even notice that his peripheral vision was getting narrower, nor did he notice that his shield energy was going down faster than what you would expect from being hit by that barrage.

_Even better than I'd hoped..._

Ichika flipped his blades over so that he was holding both upside-down, activated the laser blades, and finished his charge, landing directly in front of the Golem, and used his momentum and strength to force both of the blades through the Golem's feet, so far deep into the ground that you could only see the handle of the blade.

The Golem tried to move its arms forward so that it had a point-blank shot at Ichika. Anticipating something like this, and not wanting to waste any time, Ichika immediately took one more blade bit in each hand and stabbed their laser blades both straight through the Golem's palms, and stuck them to the wall of the arena for good measure. Though the Golem's arms were longer, Ichika's bits continued from where his arms could no longer reach. The Golem, despite being unmanned, was desperately thrashing its body, as though it was trying to escape.

Ichika grabbed and activated his last blade bit, took it in both hands, and drove it straight through the forehead of the Golem. He then materialized Yukihira, activated it, and slashed diagonally, a large gash marking the chest of the Golem. The twitching stopped. Through the gash, you could see all sorts of electronics and wires surrounding the core, but no signs of any sort of human pilot.

_Looks like Tabane-nee wasn't lying..._

Panting, Ichika dematerialized Yukihira and ran a systems check.

_Hmm... Byakushiki wasn't built to do that sort of shit. All of my parts, besides the acceleration bits, are heavily damaged. Shield energy is down to 83. Even a little bit of use on the Yukihira is enough to drain my shield energy significantly, not to mention my use of the energy blade bits. I think the thrusters also used power._

_Damn... I'm glad that Tabane-nee told me this thing was just a robot, and this confirms it. I would hate to experience something like that myself._

He dematerialized Byakushiki, and immediately fell on his face.

_Huh... why does everything hurt? Why... is... the... world... going... bl..._

He was unconscious by the time the teachers made it to him.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Well, that takes care of that arc. Up next is the part I've been trying to get to ASAP, though that ball was a fun diversion that pretty much wrote itself... I had a lot of trouble writing the destruction of the Golem this chapter, because I was not coming up with anything that Ichika could do to break it.


	7. Chapter 6: First Impressions

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text _means Ichika's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

Friday evening

IS Academy, Infirmary

For Ichika, the world was starting to come back together.

_Holy shit. Where am I? Why is everything black? Chifuyu-nee? Tabane-nee? Dan? Is anyone there?_

Ichika shot straight up, rigid.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He screamed.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I?" He shouted at the nearest person.

"It's fine, Orimura. You're in the Academy hospital." Chifuyu said.

_Hmm... Chifuyu-nee looks a little worse for the wear. And I think her voice was almost shaking a bit... I wonder if..._

Ichika, however, was unable to complete that thought, as he had fallen asleep.

Chifuyu sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Christ, he's hopeless. He overclocked his IS a little and now he's wiped..."

XXXXXXXX

There were many men surrounding the little boy and girl in the warehouse. Both had black hair and dark brown eyes. The boy's hair was short, and the girl's was longer. The boy was about the same height as the girl.

"No! Don't... Don't take her away!" The boy cried.

"There ain't nothin' you can do about it, boy." One of the men sneered.

"N-a-..." The girl whispered.

"It's fine, -a-k-. I won't let them take you..." The boy whispered back.

One of the men grabbed the girl and walked away. She screeched.

The little boy immediately charged after the man, arms flailing.

_Damn it... if I only had a sword..._

One of the other men laughed and kicked the little boy. Soon, the other men joined in. The boy curled into a ball to protect himself.

Eventually, they got bored and stopped hitting him.

"Give... her... back..." The boy began, between ragged breathes.

"Do... you... know... what... will... happen... when... nee-san... finds... you...? She'll... kill... you... all..."

A man sneered.

"Your sister ain't coming for you, boy. An' even if she is, yer never seein' her again." He said.

The man picked him up by the hair on his head, and for the boy, the world was made up of dark and pain.

XXXXXXXX

Ichika shot straight up from his bed.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed. He panted for a couple of seconds. He looked at his surroundings.

_Huh... Why am I back in my room? I thought I had been in the hospital... did Chifuyu-nee have me sent back here? What was with that dream anyway... I can't seem to remember it..._

Ichika clutched his head.

_A headache? Coming from my eyes... why? No matter... need to call Tabane-nee... tell her I broke it... Hm? None of my lights are on... why is it so bright..._

Ichika toward the window.

_What day is it? What time is it? Likely early- to mid-night. My window faces west, and it's dark._

His stomach rumbled.

_I'm hungry. Need to make something to eat. Time to get up._

Ichika tried to stand, and his legs immediately collapsed under him, and he fell, face to the floor.

_Why the hell do my legs hurt so much?_

He tried to push himself off the floor. His arms buckled.

_And my arms... at least they don't feel atrophied, so it can't have been too long..._

The door to Ichika's room opened and he heard two pairs of footsteps.

He heard a sigh and a gasp.

"Let me guess. You tried to get up, didn't you?" Chifuyu said.

"Yes. What day is it?" Ichika responded.

"Saturday." The other person responded. Ichika could only see a pair of white pants.

"Chifuyu-nee, who is that other person with you?" Ichika asked.

"Charles Dunois. Remember him? He's going to be your roommate, and since there is no school right now we figured we'd have you show him around." Chifuyu responded, and Ichika could tell from her voice that she was quite disinterested about the whole situation.

_Okay, that's reasonable. A couple of days early. I'll just need an excuse for some privacy. There are some files I'm going to need..._

"Okay, that's fine. Charles-kun, Chifuyu-nee, could you please help me up?" Ichika said.

Ichika waited about two seconds before feeling the pressure on his arms as Chifuyu lifted him up.

_Damn, this is embarrassing. The last time I had to have her do this was back then..._

Chifuyu paused for a moment, as if sizing Ichika up.

"Ichika. You've gotten flabby. You haven't been practicing enough." She stated flatly.

Ichika's face constricted in horror.

_Oh no. This... I hope I manage to make it..._

"Do something for dinner. Tomorrow, like it or not, you _will_ come to the dojo. Let's see if we can get you back some muscles worthy of my little brother." Chifuyu barked. She strode out of the room.

Charles scratched the back of his head.

"Eheheh..." He said.

Charles was wearing the same male uniform as Ichika and had an orange pendant with a pair of wings and a spike on the bottom.

_That must be the standby mode for his IS..._

_Well, with my body like this, I'm not really going to be able to cook, and we need dinner..._

"Alright, Charles-kun, I'll tell you a few things right off the bat." Ichika began. Charles straightened, and looked in his eyes.

"I recommend against even trying to eat any meals in the cafeteria. Assume that every girl here, especially the freshmen, have ulterior motives in anything they might do for us. I have seen a disturbing lack of any evidence indicating that there might be some girls that are... uninterested in boys. It's rather odd."

Charles nodded.

"I can cook. However, like this, I can't really do much. Can you cook, Charles-kun?" Ichika asked in French.

"Yes, I can, Ichika-san. What do you want me to make?" Charles responded in his native tongue.

"Whatever you want. I should have plenty of ingredients, so whatever you think is best." Ichika said, switching back to Japanese.

Charles nodded.

He walked over to the sink and washed his hands, then went to the fridge and grabbed ingredients.

_He walks like a nobleman. I suppose that's to be expected..._

Charles started to chop the ingredients and prepared a pan.

_Hm, he's pretty good after all. Maybe we should organize times for who does meals. Might make my life a little easier._

Ichika looked over at his phone, on the table across the room.

_Maybe I should start sending Tabane-nee texts instead? He might be listening in, especially if I ask for some privacy. I wonder how his Raphael Revive Mk. 2 is working... maybe I should ask? No._

Ichika got a quick glimpse of Charles' face as he was cooking. Charles was smiling, but his eyes were distant, as though he was remembering something.

_Hm... what's he making? He seems to really be enjoying it. Must be something he remembers._

Ichika silently watched as Charles cut the vegetables and simmered them. He slowly inhaled, taking in the scent of the food that was being made.

_French... vegetables... Ratatouille, huh? That's unexpected. I would think that somebody from a more rich family would make something fancier... If they can cook at all..._

Eventually, Charles was done, and he brought the food on a tray to Ichika.

"I hope it's fine, I haven't made this in a few years." Charles said.

"I'm sure it will be, Charles-kun. Now, can you get me my phone? I need to send somebody a message." Ichika said.

Charles blushed for a second, before shaking his head side to side and grabbing Ichika's phone, then setting it down on Ichika's nightstand.

"Thank you, Charles-kun. Go ahead and eat now, I think I can feed myself." Ichika said.

_He doesn't act like a Frenchman, that's for sure..._

Ichika started eating, slowly taking every bite into his mouth and savoring it.

_It's pretty good..._

Charles was sadly looking at his plate and slowly eating the Ratatouille.

_Yes, he definitely has some memories about this. Better not press him about it. Considering what happened last time I pressed someone about something..._

After they both finished eating, Charles collected their plates and washed them.

"Do you have any particular questions about anything, Charles-kun?" Ichika asked.

Charles jumped.

"Huh? O-Oh, no. Nothing at all... eheheh..." He responded.

_Yeah, he's hiding something. However, this seems interesting. I think I won't ask for the files, after all..._

"Okay, then. Do you have anything you want to do before we go to sleep, or are you fine?" Ichika asked.

"No, that's okay. Thank you for asking, anyway, Ichika-san." Charles responded.

_No problem, ignore the guy trying to be a decent host..._

Ichika took out his cell phone and began to type in a message for Tabane. After hearing the clicking, Charles began to watch Ichika.

'_Dear Tabane-nee,'_

It began,

'_I'm sorry that I didn't contact you sooner. Byakushiki wasn't built to handle the speeds that I achieved during the battle against your golem. I'm going to assume that you have a recording of it. Anyway, I blacked out, was conscious for a few seconds that night, then fell asleep. I woke up a few hours ago, in my room. I now have Claude Dunois' son, Charles Dunois, as my roommate. I think he's here for more than just learning to pilot an IS, so I'm going to be sticking to texts for now. It's too dangerous to try and call you._

_Ichika, signing out.'_

Ichika pressed send. Charles was looking at him curiously.

"Texting your girlfriend?" He asked innocently.

_No. No, and, no. Not going to happen._

"No. And it's not going to happen. I'm not someone in any condition to be dating."

"If you say so, Ichika-san." Charles responded.

Ichika paused for a few moments.

_Need to change the subject._

"I think we should discuss meals." Ichika began,

"If you make breakfast, I'll make lunch and we can alternate dinner. On the weekends, we can go into the town to get groceries. How does that sound to you?"

Charles thought for a moment.

"It sounds fine, Ichika-san." Charles replied.

"Good. I'm going back to sleep now." Ichika wobbled into their restroom and brushed his teeth. Wobbling out in his nightclothes, Ichika said,

"Good night, Charles-kun." He got under the covers and went to sleep.

"Good night, Ichika-san." Charles responded.

XXXXXXXX

Sunday morning

IS Academy dojo

The dojo was covered in tatami mats, and had a decorative calligraphy hanging in the back. Ichika, Charles, and Chifuyu were each dressed in a gi, and were sitting in seiza (sitting with most of your weight on your knees). Ichika and Chifuyu both had a shinai (a kendo bamboo practice sword) before them, and Charles was looking on from the side. Ichika glanced around nervously.

"Are you sure that it isn't going to be a problem to use this area?" Ichika asked Chifuyu anxiously

_This is going to suck. Normally, I can almost do this, but I haven't healed yet. This will be a long few hours._

"It is fine. Everything is accounted for. Ichika, you aren't going to be able to get out of this. Just accept it." Chifuyu commanded.

_You're not the one who has to go through it..._

"I will hear no complaints!" Chifuyu barked. She stood up, grabbed her shinai, and took her stance.

_When did she start reading my mind?_

"From the start. Now, stand, and let's get you some muscles!"

_Well, no point in arguing. Being in good shape is nice, anyway. And I could use the kendo practice. Strong basics are always nice to have, despite my throwing weapons not having a formal style._

Chifuyu lunged at Ichika, and they started sparring ferociously.

_Yeah, this is really going to suck._

XXXXXXXX

About four hours later

IS Academy dojo changing room

As Ichika was taking off his gi, Charles was looking the other direction, covering his eyes with both hands, cheeks red. Charles had somehow already changed out of his gi and into his uniform, despite only having been out of Ichika's line of sight for about two seconds.

Ichika looked over his shoulder, shrugged, and finished stripping.

_That's weird. France, last I checked, doesn't really have a nudity taboo, and casual nudity is pretty common. There should be no reason for him to feel uncomfortable around another naked guy. Besides that, no guy can change that fast. I think that would count as a record. Well, whatever. I need to shower._

"Charles-kun, I'm going to take a shower. Wait outside the changing rooms for me, okay?" Ichika said.

"S-Sure, Ichika-san!" Charles stuttered, still blushing.

XXXXXXXX

Thirty minutes later

IS Academy, outside the dojo

As Ichika and Charles were leaving the dojo, they noticed that Houki was standing before them, arms crossed.

"Charles-kun, can you stay there while I talk to her? She's one of our classmates." Ichika told Charles.

"No problem, Ichika-san." Charles responded, and he hung back to the entrance.

Ichika walked in front of Houki and smiled.

"What is it, Houki-san?" Ichika asked.

"A-About the grade level individual tournament next month..." She began, blushing slightly.

_Betting, eh? That's not allowed, Houki-san._

"I-If I w-win the tournament..." She continued, stuttering.

"Y-You'll go out with me!" She shouted. She strode off before Ichika could get a word in.

Ichika stood, motionless and expressionless, as she left.

_Well, shit. This isn't going to go well. When the hell did I trigger this flag?_

Around the corner, just barely in sight, were three girls, the three main gossip magnets of class 1-1. He could almost hear their excited whispering.

_Never mind. This is going to get twisted so far out away from the truth, that the least I can do is take advantage of it._

Ichika turned to where Charles was behind him, smiling. The smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Well, Charles-kun, since neither of us were able to prepare a lunch today, how about we go to the cafeteria for once?"

"Y-You aren't going to do anything about that?" Charles asked.

"No, I have a feeling that this isn't going to be a problem." Ichika responded.

_Let's see... with those three, I'd say that the entire school will know by tomorrow morning. One of them is likely to tell it wrong, so that'll make things... interesting. Can't wait for tomorrow._

"You seem very calm about the whole thing. She seemed pretty cute. You aren't interested?" Charles asked.

Ichika laughed.

"No, I'm not. It's... well, you'll know what I mean when we get to the cafeteria. Anyway, what's it like in France?" Ichika asked.

"Well, it's very different then being here, because..." Charles began.

They continued their conversation on their way in to the cafeteria.

When they reached the cafeteria, Ichika looked around the room.

_This place barely qualifies, as usual. At least the spot I want is open._

Ichika and Charles grabbed their trays and entered the line. Ichika could feel the stares from everyone in the line. The people who were sitting close enough to the entrance were gawking as well.

"Eheheh..." Charles whispered, scratching the back of his head.

"Ichika-san, why are they staring this way?"

"Because I haven't been here in about two weeks, and I am with someone who is obviously another boy, who is wearing the school uniform, who hasn't been introduced yet." Ichika responded nonchalantly.

They continued down the line.

"Orimura-kun!" The second-year in front of Ichika began.

"Yes, senpai?" He asked.

"Can I sit with you for lunch?" She asked innocently.

_No. No way in hell._

"Well, give me a second here." Ichika began, turning to look at Charles behind him.

"Charles-kun, do you want to sit with anyone?" He asked. His voice had a hint of urgency.

_Please say no. Please._

"Sure, it's no problem." Charles said. He beamed. He seemed to actually glow with... beauty? No...

_Shit. No excuses now. God, I'm not going to ever be able to argue with a smile like that._

Ichika turned around to face the second-year in front of him again, smiling tightly.

"Well, senpai, since Charles-kun doesn't mind it, I don't see why not." He said. His senpai didn't seem to notice the resignation in his voice.

After getting their food, Ichika led Charles and the senpai to a booth with a wall behind it, which was right by the emergency exit and positioned so that you could see the main entrance easily without having to look directly at it. Ichika could feel the eyes on him, even if he couldn't see the girls who were staring. After reaching their table and sitting down, the senpai asked Ichika,

"Orimura-kun, who is this man with you?"

"He's a transfer student from France who will be joining my class starting tomorrow. He's my new roommate, so I'm showing him around the campus and decided to show him the cafeteria." Ichika responded.

"I'm Charles Dunois." Charles said.

Ichika noticed movement from the entrance of the cafeteria, and was approached by a pair of girls from his year.

"Orimura-kun, is it true that you'll go out with whoever wins the grade-level individual tournament?" They asked.

Charles inhaled deeply. The senpai, who was taking a bite of her food, started to choke.

_That'll go well. Now, set the bait..._

"Yes, I'll go out with one of the winners of the tournament. It'll be my choice. Each and every grade level is included." Ichika said honestly.

The two girls looked at each other, wide-eyed, and ran off to tell their peers.

About five minutes later, a number of first- and third-years asked if they could sit with Ichika and Charles.

_And because of this senpai, I've now set a precedent that means that if I turn them down, it'll look like there's something more going on here with this senpai._

_Though, it makes sense that none of the second-years are even trying. There is probably not a single student here capable of beating Sarashiki-senpai._

Ichika's lunch was not eaten in peace.

XXXXXXXX

About an hour later

IS Academy, Ichika and Charles' room

As Charles stepped out of the restroom, he noticed that Ichika was on the computer, looking at a particular website. Leaning over his shoulder, Charles realized that the page was in French and was covering some sort of new research.

Charles sat down on the chair next to Ichika.

"Hey, Ichika-san?" Charles asked.

"Yes, Charles-kun?"

"What kind of adult did you want to be, before you came here? I can tell that you didn't want to come here, and that it threw your whole life out of alignment."

Ichika paused, looking at Charles wide-eyed.

_I underestimated this person's intelligence and perception._

Ichika looked past Charles, out the window to the evening sky beyond it.

"I wanted to overcome my problems and become a scientist, using the money that Chifuyu-nee seems to easily acquire as funding for my research." Ichika said wistfully.

"Why?" Charles asked, interest clear in his eyes.

"It's amazing, Charles-kun. The technologies for the IS are causing people to look at hovercrafts as realistic, and the cores could solve our energy crisis if Tabane-nee would only share with the world how they are made. Nobody thought that this would have been possible a little more than a decade ago, and look at the world now. We are on the cusp of a major technological revolution, Charles-kun. With the IS cores, interplanetary travel is starting to look practical. And yet the governments of the world waste trillions of dollars on developing IS'-weapons- which aren't even supposed to be used in war. What is wrong with humanity, Charles-kun? Are we really going to destroy ourselves one day? I wanted to change that. I..."

_I want to prove to myself that humanity can be trusted, after all._

Charles looked at Ichika, wide-eyed. He seemed sad.

_I wonder why this person is so sad..._

"Do you hate it here, at this school?" Charles asked.

"Yes. If I could, I would leave without hesitation."

"Why don't you, then?"

"Because... I... I want to fly. I'd rather not talk about why, but... I want to be free." Ichika said.

_I want to be free from all my worries, my responsibilities, my concerns. I want to be free, and maybe then I can remember._

_Remember? Remember what?_

Ichika looked Charles in the eyes.

"Since we're sharing, Dunois-san... when were you planning on telling me that you're actually a girl?" Ichika asked casually, as though he wasn't saying anything unusual at all.

Charles' eyes widened, and 'his' face just froze in an expression of shock.

"H-how could you..."

"Tell? Do you really want me to answer that? I know from personal experience that I'm rather... insensitive when I'm explaining my conclusions." Ichika responded deadpan.

"T-tell me anyway. I'm supposed to fool everyone." 'Charles' told Ichika.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you..." Ichika began.

"Based off of your cooking and general behavior, you probably lived in the countryside with your mother until a few years ago, unaware of your father's true identity, and then she either died or was otherwise unable to properly take care of you and sent you to your father, who might or might not have been aware of your existence prior to your appearance. How close am I so far?"

'Charles' was still in shock.

"You're right, but... how could you tell?"

_Because I'm just that damn good. Kidding._

"Ratatouille isn't something that rich people in France normally eat, and if you approached a family chef and asked him to teach you how to cook, he probably wouldn't teach you that, either. Besides, when you were making dinner last night, you had a wistful look on your face- like you were remembering bittersweet memories. Believe me when I say I know that feeling well."

'Charles' was looking at Ichika like he was an alien.

"You figured out that I'm a girl because of _one_ meal that I made?" 'Charles' asked.

"No. I figured out a possible reason why your father would tell you to pretend to be a boy because of one meal that you made. I figured out you were a girl because you were far too uncomfortable with me changing around you to be a guy. Even if you're shy, it wouldn't be that bad. Besides, you change far, far too quickly to be a guy. And your smile is just too... well, I'm going to go with 'radiant'. Your smile is too radiant to be anything that a man would have."

'Charles' just stared at Ichika.

"What are you going to do now that you know?" 'Charles' asked.

"Not tell anyone besides my sister, and swear her to secrecy." Ichika responded.

"But... why?" 'Charles' asked.

'Charles' was still looking at Ichika, wide-eyed, and as the conversation continued, her confusion only seemed to heighten.

"Because. You want to stay here, don't you? I don't care if your father had any ulterior motives for sending you, as long as they aren't going to be actively harmful to me or my objectives."

"But... he wanted me to get you to trust me and steal performance data from your IS." 'Charles' whispered.

"The thing is, Dunois-san, you didn't. You didn't begin to try." Ichika responded gently.

_Be nice to her, Ichika. She's going to be your roommate for a while._

'Charles' looked in Ichika's eyes, desperate.

"But I was lying!" She responded.

"So? Everyone lies sometimes. You look like you don't like lying, right? Then, it's fine."

_At least you don't seem too bad._

"Well, what are we going to do now? If father finds out that anyone knows, he'll try and take me back to France and send me to prison..." 'Charles' began.

"We won't mention it, and besides... didn't you read the academy special articles?" Ichika asked.

"No...?"

_Christ, she wouldn't have had to worry about anything if she had read it..._

"According to the IS Academy special articles, 'The students within this academy, while they are enrolled, do not belong to any country, organization, or group.' You're fine for three years. Your father has _no _legal ground to have you deported back to France, Dunois-san."

'Charles' nodded in appreciation.

"What are we going to do now?" She asked.

"First, you tell me your real name so that I can stop calling you Dunois-san. Then, we call Chifuyu-nee and explain the situation to her. After that, we organize schedules for showers and changing so that we don't get into uncomfortable situations." Ichika explained.

"The name my mother gave me was Charlotte... but... why are you doing this for me?" Charlotte asked.

_I don't know._

"Because. And I need no other reason." Ichika said. He got up, stretched, and picked up his phone.

"I need to make a call."

XXXXXXXX

Fifteen minutes later

Ichika and Charlotte were sitting on the chairs in front of their computers, facing towards the beds. Standing before them, with her arms crossed and glaring was Chifuyu.

"So, you're a girl?" Chifuyu asked.

"Yes, Orimura-sensei." Charlotte responded.

"You weren't sent here to seduce my little brother?" She asked more seriously.

Ichika stood straight up and shouted,

"Chifuyu-nee!" the same time as Charlotte's eyes widened and she started blushing.

"Well, that's a no. I see no problems, I just want to check one thing..." Chifuyu began.

"Dunois, follow me. Orimura, stay." Chifuyu barked.

Ichika and Charlotte both groaned,

"Yes, Sensei." At the same time.

Chifuyu led Charlotte into the restroom, where Ichika heard a click as the door locked. Charlotte yelped for some reason, and Ichika swore he could hear Chifuyu saying,

"It must hurt to hide those the way you do all the time. Here's an idea..." before Ichika covered his ears and ran to the far corner of the room.

_I don't need to know about this. It's bad enough I'm going to be living with her, I don't need my life to get any harder. Wait, no, let's say... more troublesome. Yes._

About ten minutes later, Chifuyu led a blushing Charlotte who now had her arms wrapped around her chest out of the restroom. Chifuyu looked at Ichika.

"I will see you in class tomorrow." She barked. Chifuyu strode out of the dorm room.

Blushing slightly, Charlotte whispered to Ichika,

"How much did you hear?"

"Chifuyu-nee said 'It must hurt to hide those all the time,' and then I covered my ears. I didn't hear anything after that."

_Thankfully._

Charlotte wrapped her arms a little tighter around her chest.

"Ichika, you pervert." She whispered.

_Nope, sorry, not having this conversation._

XXXXXXXX

Monday morning

IS Academy, Classroom 1-1

As Ichika neared the classroom, he heard excited chattering among his classmates.

"Did you hear that rumor?" One girl asked.

"About the new transfer student?" Another responded.

"No! We've already confirmed it's another boy! But get this: apparently, if you win the tournament, you can go out with Orimura-kun!" The first girl exclaimed.

"Really? Wow!"

Ichika smiled to himself.

_Really, these girls are so _easy_ to manipulate if you control the flow of information. It's almost sad._

_Almost._

As Ichika silently entered the classroom and took his seat, all of their eyes were upon him. He looked to the sides out of the corner of his eyes.

_Window is clear. Shouldn't need to run from an emergency today. Charlotte-san already agreed to help me divert the attention a little._

Chifuyu and Yamada walked into the room.

"All of you quiet down and take your seats." Chifuyu barked. Ichika's classmates all complied instantly.

"Today, I will be introducing a new transfer student." Yamada explained, smiling. She seemed excited.

_Of course she's excited. More boys in the class, and by some standards, 'Charles' is attractive. I guess Yamada-sensei likes bishounen?_

The door to the classroom slid open and the entire class was silent as Charlotte strode in, wearing the same uniform as Ichika.

Charlotte stood smiling a radiant smile in front of the blackboard as her fake name appeared in the background.

"My name is Charles Dunois. I come from France. Nice to meet you all!" She said, and closed her eyes, smiled widely, and put her hands behind her back.

Her radiance was almost blinding.

"I heard that there was someone in the same situation as me here, so I transferred from my country-" Charlotte began to explain.

"EEEEEHHHHHH?" The entire class, save Ichika, shouted simultaneously.

"A boy?"

"And he's handsome, the kind you want to protect, too!"

"I'm so glad I'm in this class~"

Chifuyu glared around.

"Everyone settle down! Be quiet." She commanded.

Suddenly, you could hear a pin drop in the classroom.

Chifuyu put her right hand on her hip.

"We will be doing IS practice together with class 4. Everyone, change quickly and gather up at the second training arena." Chifuyu explained.

"Orimura, I assume I don't need to tell you to keep an eye on your new roommate?" She asked, looking over at Ichika.

"Of course not, Orimura-sensei."

Ichika felt a... pink... aura around him.

_No. Danger. This isn't good. They're starting sooner than normal._

"Charles-kun, we need to leave now." He said.

"Why?" Charlotte asked.

_Right, I hadn't told her about this one._

"Our classmates are changing faster than normal. I'm afraid to turn around." Ichika explained.

As realization dawned on her face, Charlotte just kind of stood there.

_No time._

Ichika grabbed her hand and started running out of the classroom. He didn't notice Charlotte's cheeks coloring a little bit.

Going through the halls, he began his explanation.

"I'm terrible, not telling you this. We'll travel this distance every time we have practice. We change at the arena. There are a lot of lockers, so privacy won't be an issue. The girls change in the classroom."

"Right!" Charlotte nodded.

Two girls appeared from seemingly nowhere ahead of Ichika and Charlotte in the hallway.

"Rumored transfer student detected!" One of them said.

"And he's holding hands with Orimura-kun!" The other replied.

Ichika stopped. Looking behind, he saw a legion of first-year girls behind them.

"They're over here!"

"Come on out, everyone!"

"Orimura-kun's black hair is nice, but blonde is good, too!"

"I-Ichika-san?" Charlotte asked, looking to her roommate.

_Nope. Can't go through them. Both directions are blocked. However, they're just standing there._

"Charles-kun," Ichika whispered.

"How fast can you run?"

"As fast as you, from what I've seen." She responded.

_Good._

"Let's go. Follow me." Ichika said.

They ran towards the horde, then turned sharply to the right, down a different hallway.

"Does this happen every time?" Charlotte asked.

"Only when... yes." Ichika responded.

_It really gets old._

Somehow, they lost their pursuers before they got to their changing, Ichika and Charlotte changed in separate areas in peace.

After changing, Ichika and Charlotte walked over to the arena.

XXXXXXXX

Monday, After classes

IS Academy Dorms, Ichika and Charlotte's room

...During the joint practice, Chifuyu-nee made Cecilia-san and Rin-san have a mock combat. Cecilia-san wasn't very enthusiastic. Chifuyu-nee told her that it's her chance to show off. That was an... interesting... image change. They fought Yamada-sensei, who almost crashed into me. Yamada-sensei completely destroyed them. I'm starting to understand why Yamada-sensei is, well, a teacher. That was pretty impressive. She was using a Raphael Revive, and of course Cecilia-san and Rin-san were in their 3rd generation IS'. After classes, Charlotte-san and I took showers, myself first, and now I'm about to prepare dinner...

Ichika shut his diary and stashed it away before setting to work in the kitchen.

_I wonder when I'll need to call Tabane-nee again..._

XXXXXXXX

Tuesday morning

IS Academy, classroom 1-1

Yamada was standing in the center of the classroom with a slightly afraid expression on her face. To her left was a petite silver-haired girl wearing a black eye patch. Her arms were behind her back, as if she was standing at attention. She was not smiling. Chifuyu was to this girl's left, arms crossed. Ichika was in his usual seat, with Charlotte to his right.

"Um..." Yamada began.

"I have another happy announcement today."

_New transfer student? Two days in a row? _Seriously_? This is getting ridiculous._

"Our class will be joined by a new friend."

The screen lit up behind her with a name on it.

"This is Laura Bodewig-san, a transfer student from Germany." Yamada paused.

The classroom erupted in chatter. They were all asking about what was going on, because it was unusual. Two transfer students, two days in a row?

"Um... would everyone please by quiet? We haven't finished introducing her yet." Yamada called with a slightly harried voice.

_I can't believe I never doubted her ability as a teacher until now. She can't even command the respect of her students._

Chifuyu took this moment to look around the classroom, glaring at every student. She then looked at Laura.

"Say your greetings, Laura." She ordered.

"Yes, Instructor." Laura replied crisply.

_This is great. Finally, someone trustworthy. Not only is she from Germany, but she was one of Chifuyu-nee's students when she was teaching there. That's one less classmate to be afraid of. She probably has AIC, too, so that's another plus for her._

"I am Laura Bodewig." Laura said.

She was silent. The class stared. After a few seconds, Yamada turned to look at her.

"Um... is that it?" She asked Laura.

"That is all." Laura responded.

She turned her head and glared at Ichika.

"So it's _you_..." She hissed, acid dripping off her words.

Ichika tensed. He brought his hands in front of him, ready to defend at a moment's notice.

_Shit. Looks like I spoke too soon. Wonder why _this_ new student doesn't like me._

Laura stopped in front of Ichika. Moving her right hand in front of her body, she attempted to slap Ichika with the back of her hand.

Before anyone, save a few trained eyes, could notice what was going on, Ichika's right arm snapped in position, his large hand expertly grabbing her wrist, stopping her slap mid-motion. Laura's eye widened in surprise at someone being able to catch her attack.

Her face contorted into a mask of fury, and she cried,

"I will never accept you as her younger brother!"

_Oh. That. Is. It. Shit's going to go _down_ now._

Ichika glared at Laura, and tightened his grip on her wrist.

"That's too bad." Ichika said. Ichika leaned up at her face.

"Kass mich nicht an, kleines Mädchen." Ichika hissed. He threw Laura's wrist down to her side.

"Now, as your class leader, I am formally telling you to _sit down_, Mädchen. We are in front of teachers at the moment." Ichika said in Japanese.

Everyone in the classroom was just staring blankly and Ichika and Laura.

_Well then, time to get started, I suppose._

XXXXXXXX

AN: Well then, that's the end of that chapter. What Ichika is saying at the end is 'Do not touch me, little girl', using a translation that wasn't the Google one (Babylon).


	8. Chapter 7: Some Characterization, part 1

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means Ichika's thoughts

AN: I have returned! Sorry about the wait, I was on vacation with little to no internet and not a whole lot to do. I still wrote, and I now know exactly where and how I'm going past the anime and into my own territory.

Don't worry about all of the remaining fights being easy just because two people have significantly upgraded ISs, though. Things are going up to 'hard mode' starting with the next major fight.

There won't be any Silver Gospel. It'll be much worse.

XXXXXXXX

Thursday, Lunchtime

IS Academy, classroom 1-1

Ichika and Charlotte quickly settled into a daily routine. Charlotte made breakfast while Ichika prepared their lunches. When they got back to their room, the first one to get the shower was whoever was cooking dinner that night, so they could make dinner while the other person took their shower. Ichika also used the time while Charlotte was in the shower to contact Tabane, who teased relentlessly about his new roommate. He hadn't told Tabane about Charlotte's true gender, however. Ichika still completed his homework during class, or before Charlotte did, after dinner. His grades hadn't gone down at all. After they were both done with their homework, Charlotte would tell stories from her childhood and Ichika would, on rare occasions, share stories from his.

Ichika removed his and Charlotte's bentos from his bag for lunch that day.

_I haven't really had to deal with Mädchen much these past couple of days. Maybe she's taking a different approach? Or maybe, now that her feelings are known, she doesn't care anymore? It doesn't really make any sense, I'm the only reason she knows Chifuyu-nee. If I didn't exist, or if I wasn't her brother, or if she didn't care about me enough, Mädchen would never have met Chifuyu-nee. Even soldier girls have no sense of logic._

"Ichika-san."

Ichika looked up to notice that Cecilia was talking to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Houki was looking on. Houki was holding a large box wrapped in a cloth. Cecilia had a picnic basket in her arms.

"No, Cecilia-san, I don't want to eat lunch with you and Houki-san."

Cecilia took a step back, eyes wide and mouth open slightly. She quickly regained her composure and went to Charlotte.

"Charles-san, would you like to come with us to lunch?"

_No, please don't. You know that I'll come with you if you do this._

"Of course. I would love to, Alcott-san." Charlotte smiled.

_That is the smile of an angel._

"Ichika-san, since you made my lunch, it wouldn't be fair for you not to come too, right? Come on."

Ichika smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Sure, Charles-kun. Let me grab my stuff."

Everyone in the class, who had been listening in, started frantically chattering about this.

"I didn't know Orimura-kun swings _that_ way..."

"It does explain some of his behavior..."

"Ohh, Dunois-kun makes such an excellent receiver..."

"No, he might be the attacker, you never know with is type..."

_Oh shit. No, no no no no no! I'm not gay! Don't talk about it like that, I can explain..._

_Wait... This might actually work to our favor... They won't bother us if we do this..._

_Girls always have loved 'forbidden love'. It's a fantasy, but one that they wouldn't dare shatter..._

Cecilia looked scandalized. Houki was looking at Ichika with an expression that said, 'That explains a lot...' but also had more than a small amount of frustration apparent.

Laura looked downright furious. Ichika, feeling the anger, said,

"Alright, let's head to the roof now."

He got up and left. Charlotte, Houki, and Cecilia followed.

_**Up at the roof**_

Ichika was sitting at the far corner of the roof, facing toward the door. To his right was Charlotte, to his left was Rin. To Charlotte's right was Cecilia, to Rin's right was Houki. They were arranged in a circle, so Cecilia and Houki were sitting next to each other.

Rin was happily sitting there, eating her Sweet & Sour Pork and pretending to not notice the glares that Cecilia and Houki were sending her way. Charlotte was laughing awkwardly and enjoying her food, Ichika was pretending to ignore all of them besides Charlotte, whom he was actually watching.

"Ichika!" Houki shouted, louder than necessary.

"Yes, Houki-san?"

Houki broke eye contact and looked to the side, blushing profusely.

"I-I happened to make too much for lunch today. C-Could you help me eat it?"

_No. If I start giving you girls favoritism, then I'll have to accept food from everyone. I know that our class' gossip magnets are at that door, and I think Charlotte-san knows, as well._

"Ichika-san! I made many sandwiches, how about you let me show you that England really does have good food!"

_No. Way. In. Hell._

"No, I've really got plenty to-"

"Ichika!" Rin called.

_Thanks for the save, Rin-san. I'm glad I invited you, my friend._

"Is it true that you and Charles-kun are actually dating?"

Rin seemed a little too enthusiastic about this concept. Ichika and Charlotte both started blushing. Cecilia and Houki spit out what they were eating and started coughing.

_I've got to handle this carefully..._

"I-I can neither confirm nor deny your question." Ichika replied.

Charlotte, Cecilia, and Houki each gave out a quiet sigh of relief.

Rin started fighting off a nosebleed.

"So, maybe? Hmm, you never did show any interest in girls during middle school... and you clung to Dan waaay too much for you to just be friends... I still remember that time when we were second-years when we went to an arcade, and some high school girls started flirting with you. As soon as they got too close, you yelped like a little girl and started cowering behind Dan. I couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes after that. Dan and you both didn't like how funny I found it for some reason, though..." Rin chuckled.

"That's because it wasn't, and we both know that you're never going to let me live it down, Rin-san. Besides, I still don't get why they started flirting with me in the first place. I'm not that attractive..."

Rin sighed and shook her head. The other girls looked at him like he had just sprouted a second head.

"I don't know, Ichika-san. You looked plenty fine when we were getting changed a few days ago. All those muscles... I didn't realize that kendo made you _that_ well-developed... To think that Orimura-sensei called that 'flabby'... If I were a girl, I'd want to see what you look like, if _that_ was 'flabby'... I can see why they started flirting with you." Charlotte muttered thoughtfully.

"E-Excuse me..." Rin called as she ran off. Her right had was covering her nose, blood seeping out from between her fingers.

Charlotte was blissfully and ignorantly smiling.

"Ichika! Is he lying?" Houki asked. She was livid.

"Yes, Ichika-san! It is improper for two men to be that close! In England, something like that is called..."

Ichika wasn't paying too much attention. He was watching Rin, who was excitedly chattering with the gossip magnets of class 1-1.

_Yes, this will be something I can use. For that upcoming tournament, if we make it a team match..._

Cecilia's rant continued throughout the rest of their lunch break. Ichika ignored her and finished his food quietly. Charlotte listened politely, nodding every so often.

_Charlotte-san probably thinks of it as a good lesson in English culture. The English are still stuck in the Victorian Era._

Charlotte was sitting straight up, paying attention. Her lips were slightly pursed, and she her nods were punctuated by an 'un.'

_Wow, she's cute._

_What the hell am I thinking?_

Ichika glanced at Charlotte and blushed lightly. Cecilia and Charlotte didn't notice, but Houki's eyes narrowed slightly.

XXXXXXXX

Thursday evening

IS Academy dorms, Ichika and Charlotte's room

Charlotte was just finishing her homework.

"Charlotte-san, what do you think about trying to make this upcoming tournament a set of tag-team matches?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"Well, we could show the world just how well the Raphael Revive Mk. II works in a team, which is what a lot of militaries use the old model for, as a flexible support unit for a two- to three- man team. For another, using the close-rang weapon on your IS cripples its maneuverability and mine is overspecialized for close range. It would be a very effective team-up."

_Please buy into it, please buy into it..._

"It sounds fine, but I think it's a little unfair for the school to bend to the will of one student, wouldn't you agree?"

Ichika looked at her like she was insane.

"But I'm the only guy here. I can threaten to leave and make them do it if I want them to."

Charlotte smiled at him. It made him shiver.

_That's not the good kind of smile..._

"That's highly immature of you, but I'm not going to stop you if you want to try. If you manage, I will probably team with you, as well. Just to be safe."

"Of course, I'll talk to Orimura-sensei about it next Monday."

_Excellent._

XXXXXXXX

Friday evening

IS Academy Dorms, Ichika and Charlotte's room

Ichika was sitting in front of his computer, talking to Tabane on the phone. Charlotte had just gotten in the shower. They had almost run out body soap, but Ichika had a new bottle put in before it became a problem.

"Yes, Tabane-nee. Thank you. This'll help with Mädchen. Right. I'll have a sparring session with Charles later."

Ichika nodded.

"Can I have you do one more thing? I need a favor. There are some items I want smuggled in. Can you help me with that?"

"Thanks, Tabane-nee." Ichika snapped his phone shut, and pressed it on his lips.

_Alright, now I just need to establish things with Charlotte and Chifuyu-nee... I think that I need to find out just what_ _Mädchen has on her IS before I try anything else. Knowing about AIC is nice, but I want that on my IS so badly. I want that thing for my bits._

While lost in his reverie, Ichika didn't notice when Charlotte came out of the bathroom.

"Ichika-san, it's your turn for the shower." She said.

Ichika jumped. Charlotte cocked her head to the side a little.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked.

"O-oh, I was just thinking about our strategy for dealing with AIC, Charlotte. Depending on whom Mädchen is paired with and whether or not we get to fight as a team, I need to take that into account for us dealing with her."

Charlotte looked slightly confused. Ichika walked by her into the bathroom for his shower. As Ichika reached to turn on the water, his hand froze for a second.

_Huh? When did I start calling her 'Charlotte'? And why did I say 'we'?_

XXXXXXXX

Monday morning

IS Academy, Chifuyu's office

The office overlooked the center of the Academy, and had a pair of potted trees on either side of the large, mahogany desk. Behind the desk was a black leather reclining chair, which, along with the desk, was elevated a couple of inches higher off the ground. The bookshelves were bare, and on either side of the desk was a computer monitor.

Over the doorway was a daisho- a matching pair of a katana and a wakizashi. They were suspended by some form of invisible wire. The scabbards on both were black, and Ichika recognized the katana as the one that Chifuyu used to teach Ichika how to fight with a real sword.

Ichika stood before the desk, tapping his feet with his arms crossed, eyes locked with Chifuyu's.

"So, as I was saying, Chifuyu-nee, I was hoping that you could make this tournament a tag tournament..." Ichika insisted.

"No. I don't have that kind of authority." She responded for third time.

"Maybe, but you can still ask the teachers what they think of it. Besides, you want us to be the best we can be, right? None of the first-years, nor most of the students in higher years, are used to dealing with a teammate or multiple opponents. It would be an excellent experience for everyone involved." Ichika continued.

As Chifuyu continued to glare at him, Ichika sighed.

_I really didn't want to have to do this, you know._

He walked around behind Chifuyu and started to massage her shoulders.

"Are you sure?" He asked her calmly.

"Mn... yes. I can't change the rules because one student asked."

Ichika continued massaging her shoulders for a few more minutes, working the tension away.

"Are you _really_ sure?" He asked. "Ichika, I've already said no." Chifuyu responded.

Ichika paused for a moment.

"You're very stressed, and your shoulders are very stiff. Your whole back is probably stiff. I could help, but..."

Chifuyu sighed.

"I'll talk to the other teachers about it. Don't get your hopes up." Chifuyu stated.

"Of course not. Thank you, Chifuyu-nee." Ichika responded.

He stopped massaging her shoulders and started to leave.

"Wait." Chifuyu said. Ichika turned his head to look at her, eyes open.

"A little bit lower, please." She mumbled. Ichika could detect a faint hint of embarrassment in her voice.

Ichika smiled happily.

"Of course."

_Works every time._

XXXXXXXX

Monday afternoon

IS Academy, training area 2

Ichika was practicing with his bits on the nearby targets. Cecilia and Houki were watching with their arms crossed. Charlotte was practicing flight exercises in the air above the ground.

"He needs to do a little more swooshing with his movements. And then he should go babang!" Houki said.

Cecilia shook her head.

"No, he needs to adjust himself twenty degrees to the back and fly..."

Houki rolled her eyes.

_This is getting stupid. Charlotte, if you can hear my pleas, do something to deal with this over-entitled rich girl._

Charlotte flew down to Ichika.

_Oh, thank you Charlotte._

"Ichika, could you duel with me for a while? I want to try fighting Byakushiki, and... well..." Charlotte asked.

Ichika called his bits back and smiled.

"No problem, Charles." Ichika responded, moving to face Charlotte, thankful for the removal from Houki and Cecilia.

Charlotte's IS stood slightly shorter than all of the other IS' that Ichika had seen before. It had four long, spiked things which widened at either side of the base floating at the back. Each of the four spikes were attached to each other via a bent tubing. This spiked circle could be used as a melee weapon, as the spikes themselves were pointed and sharpened, but its primary purpose was as the wings and to increase speed, acceleration, and handling. It is also capable of rotation to allow for greater flexibility of movement, and the tips of each of the spikes could shoot lasers. Each spike was slightly shorter in length than the radius of the circle. On each spike was a trio of thrusters, which were the primary source of acceleration for the IS.

In addition to these thrusters, there was a pair of thrusters on the bottom of each foot. The armor on the IS was light and thin, and its fingers weren't spiked at all, but rather they were just normal human fingers. On each shoulder and elbow were white spikes, which Ichika recognized as combined power sources and coolers for the many energy-based weapons equipped on the IS. The outer parts of the armor were all bright orange, and the trim was white.

_Huh. I don't remember that spike-circle being on the blueprints that I sold them._

Ichika activated True Sight.

**IS not in database detected**

**Proceed with scan?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

"Well, Charles, how do you want to do this?" Ichika asked.

"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked.

"Can we only use half of our shield energy?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

**Scan complete. **

Ichika looked at his new screen with the specs of Charlotte's IS.

_Wow, and I thought the golem had a lot of guns. I recognize most of these from the original blueprints for the Mk. II, but this'll be more interesting than I realized._

_...Holy shit! Is that an IS-sized -and scaled- shotgun? And rocket launcher? BAZOOKA? Holy shit, I want her even more!_

_...As my partner..._

_...For the tag tournament..._

_I should just end this train of thought while I still have some dignity left._

**Save IS special weapons to database?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

Ichika and Charlotte, as there was nothing that needed to be said, instantly began to charge toward each other. Charlotte, not wasting a second, took out something that looked like a sniper rifle and started to shoot at Ichika, who couldn't do much more than try to dodge it.

Attached to each of Ichika's arms were four of his blade bits, fully extended, with the rest equipped as thrusters on his back. He wasn't doing too well about dodging the shots from the rifle and so he taking more hits than he had wanted to. That did not mean, however, that he wasn't making progress.

Ichika activated Ignition boost. Charlotte switched her sniper rifle out for something that looked like a... rocket launcher?

_Shit._

Ichika tried to dodge, but that... thing was somehow automatic and had a seemingly endless clip. Every missile fired was a homing missile, as well. Ichika's remaining shield energy depleted after three hits, ending the spar.

After Ichika and Charlotte landed, they looked at each other strangely.

"You were holding back, weren't you?" Ichika asked.

"Not as much as you." Charlotte responded. She smiled radiantly.

_That smile... no! Bad Ichika!_

"I think your problem is that you aren't too good at dealing with or countering someone who is skilled with long-ranged weaponry and who knows how to handle themselves at close range." Charlotte explained.

_I've been noticing that, too. Hopefully she can help me with this._

"I've noticed that, too. Could you show me how it's done?" Ichika asked.

Charlotte nodded.

"Sure." She said.

She handed Ichika the sniper rifle that she had been using earlier and summoned some targets.

"Am I holding it right?" Ichika asked.

Charlotte moved behind him and grabbed his upper arms.

Ichika blushed. His heart rate increased.

_God, I feel like a nervous schoolgirl. I hope nobody notices._

"No. Close your armpits a little." She began,

"Also, your left arm goes here."

A bit farther behind, Cecilia and Houki were watching with horrified expressions.

"Are you sure he isn't gay?" Cecilia asked.

Houki grunted.

"Mm. He's always liked another male presence, even when we were little."

Cecilia looked at Houki skeptically, before looking back at Ichika and Charlotte.

"Is it just me, or is Ichika-san blushing?" Cecilia asked.

Houki looked, horrified to discover that Cecilia was right. Then again, it did make some sense... like why he wasn't interested in her.

"It's not just you." Houki replied.

Ichika started shooting at the targets. He consistently hit the target directly above the bullseye as Charlotte moved him to the side, to show him the proper waist motions for taking the next shot.

"It's the feeling of speed, right?" Ichika asked.

Charlotte nodded.

"Un, that's exactly it. If you want to dodge them better, just-"

"Hey, isn't that the third generation German model?" One of Ichika's classmates asked loudly.

Ichika turned to look at the IS standing on one of the launch pads of the arena. The unidentified IS was almost entirely black, with a pair of turbines with dark red tops behind it, and some double downward spiked wings below the turbines. The hands were clawed, and mounted on the left turbine was what looked like some sort of cannon. Piloting it was Laura Bodewig.

**IS not in database detected. **

**Proceed with scan?**

**Y/N**

_Oh hell yes._

"And what do you want here, Mädchen?" Ichika asked Laura, as he handed Charlotte back her sniper rifle.

"Ichika Orimura." She began.

"It seems you also have a personal machine. That makes things faster. Fight me." She commanded.

**Scan complete.**

_AIC is an interesting thing. Ooh, a railgun. Laser-blades. Cool. Wait. VT system? What in the... Oh my. Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. Mädchen's going to be in trouble. Now, who do I tell? Charlotte? Chifuyu-nee?_

_Nobody. Mädchen hasn't showed me that she wants to be treated respectfully by me in any way._

**Save IS to database?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

Ichika responded by throwing one of his blade bits at Laura. She brought up one of her hands, which caused a spherical barrier to appear around her and stopped the motion of the bit before it fell to the ground when the barrier disappeared.

Ichika threw increasing numbers of bits, but she stopped all of them. He summoned Yukihira and charged head-first at Laura while having the bits try to stab her.

_Note to self: target cannot attack while using AIC._

Ichika's sword and Laura's shield met. The force of the impact caused a shockwave, which left Laura unharmed, somehow, but forced the nearby students to brace themselves while their hair whipped around in the air.

_This is..._

"Hey! What do you students think you are doing over there?" A teacher called.

"I'm done here." Laura said, turning away.

"For once, we agree on something, Mädchen." Ichika responded. He flew back down to the ground.

They both dematerialized their IS'. Charlotte noticed what they were doing and did so, too.

"Let's head back to our classes, Charles. I think I hear Orimura-sensei calling me." Ichika said.

As they walked out, Charlotte asked Ichika,

"Did you get what you were looking for by doing that with her?" She asked.

Ichika laughed.

"Can't hide anything from you, can I? Yes, I did. And some extra, too." Ichika explained.

_Why did I just tell her? Why can't I hide anything?_

"How did convincing Orimura-sensei go?" Charlotte asked.

"At first, I was doing terribly. However, I've been living with her for years, and no proper little brother doesn't learn a few tricks to convince his doting big sister to do as he asks. It's taken care of. Now, we just wait. If you don't mind, you and I can partner. I have some ideas, and our specialties complement each other nicely."

_Why do I care about teaming up with her this much?_

_Right, fully-automatic rocket launcher._

However, a small part of Ichika quietly muttered,

_Just keep telling yourself that..._

Charlotte sighed, looking concerned.

"I see..." She sighed.

"If you don't like it, we can always both partner with somebody else. It doesn't have to be the two of us. I can work something platonic out." Ichika said.

_Why do I care about what she thinks more than usual?_

Charlotte paused, then smiled her usual smile.

"No, it's fine, Ichika-san."

XXXXXXXX

Monday evening

IS Academy dorms, Ichika and Charlotte's room

Ichika quickly tuned out the sounds of water running as he browsed the internet searching for his desired article. Finding it, the article's headline read,

**Production of VT system banned! Deemed 'too risky', according to trusted sources.**

Ichika began to read it frantically, with a speed he never really thought himself capable of.

_Who the hell installs this kind of device on a student's machine? Mädchen must be insane to have this thing installed. If she has a crazy death wish, then who am I to turn it down? _

Ichika took out his phone and dialed Tabane's number, then rested it on his shoulder and began to prepare dinner.

"Hi hi! Genius girl Tabane-san here! What can I do for you, Ikkun?" Tabane's overly chipper voice called through the phone.

Ichika continued chopping dinner. The water in the shower turned off, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I have a couple of questions about AIC." Ichika began,

"It doesn't cancel _inertia_ at all, does it? I doubt that even the IS' are capable of breaking that many laws of physics. Besides, if it did cancel inertia, it doesn't explain anything about why the targets of the shield stop moving."

"Correct on that one, Ikkun! AIC just sounded cooler. What else?"

"It's not exerting an equal push, either. If it were doing that, I would have felt it when I actually struck the shield."

"Also correct, Ikkun!"

"Most importantly, if it cancelled all of the motion of the target, then _why_ did the shockwave from the impact still cause the people nearby to be affected?"

Ichika paused, inhaling.

"The answer is simple: AIC functions as a wall that stops the blows from affecting _you_, the user. Others can still be affected by it. How did I do?"

"Absolutely correct, Ikkun! Do you need anything else?" Tabane asked.

_Fine, that's cool. I would like that thing. But how the _hell_ does it actually _do_ that? I can't just use it without understanding how it works, my IS won't let me. AIC is still a prototype, so Germany doesn't have to reveal the tech behind it, either, just what it does._

"Yes. I wanted to know how smuggling in that concealable knife and pistol are coming along. I doubt Charles or I are going to need to protect ourselves while we're here, but for any outings we might make, I'd rather be prepared." Ichika explained.

"D'aaawww! I always knew that you'd find somebody, Ikkun! No wonder you never responded to Houki-chan's advances! You didn't like girls at all."

Ichika blushed. He was done chopping, and was getting ready to start actually cooking dinner, but he stopped for a second to regain his composure.

_No, I never responded to Houki-san advances for a different reason._

"I-It's not that! I like girls! The thing with Charles is... complicated." Ichika sputtered.

Tabane laughed.

"Oh, so you go both ways?" Tabane asked cheerfully.

"N-No, it's not that, either. Look, it's complicated."

"Fine, fine. I'm just surprised. I thought that you were never interested in anyone because you didn't think that they'd put up with you if you were in a real relationship. I doubt that Chacchan would appreciate being hidden and protected."

Ichika sighed.

"I know. But, I can think of all kinds of situations where we could be confronted by _those_ people, and I would rather not have either of us caught unawares. Running isn't necessarily an option anymore, and IS' are monitored. Or at least, Charles' is."

"They'll be in soon. I'll send them to you through Asamiya-san, like the rest of your mail from Dan-kun and I. Genius Girl Tabane-san, signing out!"

"Yes, thank you, Tabane-nee. I'll talk to you later." Ichika snapped the phone shut, not noticing that Charlotte had been out of her shower for most of the call.

_Wait... I did deny that I like Charlotte, right?_

"Ichika, how's dinner coming along?

Ichika jumped a little.

"Pretty well, Charlotte."

"Okay. Thank you, Ichika."

Ichika finished making dinner and as they sat down to eat, he asked,

"Hey, did you ever go to see the Eiffel Tower?"

Charlotte set down her silverware and looked at Ichika.

"Yes, I did. With my class in third grade. My mother went with us."

Charlotte laughed.

"We were all so happy there. We didn't think that there could be so many people in one place. All of the boys ran around, even though our teacher told them not to go anywhere. When we got to the top, we looked down at Paris. I think that was the first time I realized that the world was truly that big. We drove there, you see."

Charlotte sighed wistfully.

"Mother enjoyed being there so much. She always liked going with us and seeing us have fun together, you see. She never got to see me in any of the higher years in middle school, though. After she died, Father pulled me out and hired tutors. They didn't like me much. Nobody there liked me much."

Charlotte gripped her sides protectively.

"Did you ever go to Tokyo tower?"

Ichika looked out the window wistfully.

"Once, I think. For school. Chifuyu-nee remembers more about that trip than I do, though. I don't remember much that happened more than five years ago. It's practically a miracle I even recognized Houki-san."

_It's why I keep a diary. My memory can't be trusted, so I have to write everything down, and hope that it's only my long-term memory that's shot._

"Did you ever go again? You lived pretty close by, right?"

Ichika laughed bitterly.

"My class was going in my second year of middle school. I didn't go. I was afraid, because there were going to be too many people there, and too many ways everything could go wrong. I would just cower behind Dan. Maybe Rin-san, too. I was the captain of the Kendo Club by that point. If I went and had the inevitable breakdown, then I'd lose all the respect that I had gained from my classmates, senpais and kouhais. I refused to let that happen, was too afraid of the results, so I never went. I skipped most field trips that I can remember like that."

Ichika smiled sadly.

"It took me two years and a lot of coaxing from Dan just to start going to the mall, and the one that we go to is very specific because I actually know it. I wouldn't go to any other mall, not without floor plans and escape routes and emergency exits and..."

"Heh. I'm sorry, you probably aren't interested in all of my problems. Let's eat dinner before it gets any colder, okay?"

Charlotte looked at him like it wasn't over yet, but Ichika had already started eating, so she decided to let it drop.

XXXXXXXX

Monday night

Somewhere secret

Deep underground, in a room with few lights, a dozen figures sit around a large, round table. There was a Russian flag above the figuring sitting across from the exit. To the right of the Russian was a Chinese flag, then a British flag, then a Japanese flag and finally a German flag. Under each flag, as well as the other, unrevealed flags, sat a figure.

"To begin this meeting, I would like to know if anyone here did not get our organization-wide mail sent out last night." The figure under the Russian flag began.

No hands were raised.

"Does anyone have any objections to this operation?" Russia asked, looking around the table.

China and Germany raised their hands.

"China, you may begin." Russia commanded.

"I do agree that the objectives for this operation are necessary for the continued stability of our homes. However, I do not believe that our target will... approve of this objective. Should decide to continue, I will formally remove all of my subordinates from this operation."

"I will as well." Japan called.

"If you don't want to participate in the entertainment that I anticipate this event will bring, I suppose it's your fault. I'll allow your withdrawal, sections 12 and 14."

"Now, what do you have to say, Germany?"

"Pardon me for questioning your orders, general, but what makes you think the target is worthy of such an operation on our part?"

"The target is a threat to the stability of our organization. This operation is for promoting stability. Any more questions?" Russia once again looked around the table.

Nobody raised their hands.

"Good. That's been decided. Next item on the agenda. Let's arrange the budgets for the various divisions..."

XXXXXXX


	9. Chapter 8: insert romantic fluff title

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text _means Ichika's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

Tuesday morning

IS Academy dorms, Ichika and Charlotte's room

Ichika stopped making lunch and turned to the door upon hearing a series of knocks, slowly gaining in volume and speed. He looked through the eyehole in the front of his door. Standing before him, smiling happily, as though she doesn't care about the people who were near her, was a taller girl with short, light blue hair, dark red eyes, and a slightly rounded face. Her figure was well-developed, and she was wearing the school uniform with a yellow tie. Ichika couldn't help but look her up and down.

_Damn, she's hot. No! Bad Ichika! We agreed to not go after any women here. Can't you remember who that is? It'll be more trouble than it's worth. Stop looking! Besides, you have Charlotte..._

_Damn it, not again._

After spending about thirty seconds calming himself down, he opened the door for the girl there.

_I wish I had time for a cold shower, but this'll have to do._

"Do you know who I am, Ichika-kun?" She asked him.

_Yes, I know the girl whom everyone worships as a 'cool big sis' almost as much as my own sister is their 'onee-sama'._

"Of course I know who the student council president is, Sarashiki-senpai. What do you want?" Ichika asked.

Sarashiki put her right index finger over her bottom lip and bent forward a little.

_Shit! That pose..._

"Weeeellll... I was just coming by to tell about a few things I want you do-as your student council president." Sarashiki said. Her voice was almost seductive in its nature.

_Okay, she can read my mind. She's doing this on purpose. Nobody can be this cute and not be trying. No, remember... not again..._

Ichika just stood there, staring at her blankly. His posture was rigid, and his face betrayed no emotion.

"After you threw that senpai of yours on the ground, who do you think was it that intervened to make sure that you weren't punished? Your sister wouldn't really have the ability to do that. As the student council president, I convinced everyone involved to not do anything about it." She continued, using the same tone of voice.

Ichika stood up straighter, but stopped paying attention.

_Maybe if I ignore her she'll stop making me resist my determination to not date anyone. Besides..._

_Shut up emotions..._

"And then, your reaction to Bodewig-san attempting to assault you again confirmed my fears. So, we now have a problem and..." She paused to stare at him, eyes narrowed and a frown prevalent on her face.

"Are you even listening?" She asked.

Ichika's snapped out his reverie, eyes widened and mouth open slightly.

"Y-yes, ma'm!" He stuttered a little too loudly.

She continued to stare at him for a few seconds.

_Get away from me. Don't touch me. Please, I'm begging you, I don't want to have to explain this to Charlotte._

She poked his cheek.

_Shitshitshitshit-_

She moved a little closer and then started tickling him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Ichika screamed. He shoved her away, hard, slammed the door shut, locked it, and ran into the back corner of the room and started whimpering and muttering something under his breath.

He heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, and looked up to see Charlotte with her eyes narrowed, glaring at Ichika.

"So, you like her type, huh?"

_Shit._

"Uhh... Well... that is..." Ichika stuttered.

_Think, idiot, think!_

"Ichika, you pervert."

"B-but she _touched_ me. She tried to _tickle_ me."

_Like that's going to work..._

A half-minute pause. Ichika felt his heart rate going up steadily, and he stiffened.

"Ooooh, so you don't like it when _everyone_ touches you, huh? I think I know your punishment, then..." Charlotte explained. Her voice sounded happy, but there was a great deal of menace prevalent.

Ichika started shaking. Charlotte hugged him.

_Oh god oh god oh god..._

Ichika didn't react. He didn't run away. He just sat there, wide-eyed, mouth open.

_This... why aren't I as surprised?_

Charlotte started blushing. Ichika started blushing. They looked each other in the eyes, and...

"Ichika, you pervert." Charlotte whispered. She broke contact.

"Come on, time for food."

Ichika nodded, still blushing, took a deep breath, and approached the table.

_What the hell just happened?_

_**Meanwhile, outside the dorm room**_

Sarashiki stared at the door with her arms crossed, looking disappointed. She shrugged, and looked to her right, where Chifuyu was standing with her arms crossed.

"What is it, Chifuyu-sensei?" She asked.

"What did you want with my little brother, Sarashiki-dono?" Chifuyu replied.

"I wanted to warn him about some things, and I wanted to introduce myself." Sarashiki responded. She stood a little bit straighter, and spoke more respectfully and reverently.

"Don't torment my little brother." Chifuyu told her flatly.

"I was just going to warn him. That boy needs someone new in his life to calm him down. I was going to tell him about my plans for that." Sarashiki explained, sounding slightly impatient.

"I thought your father and I agreed that you and your people would stay the hell away from my little brother." Chifuyu growled.

Sarashiki shrugged.

"He remembers enough to know who took him, right? He'll come to us one day, you can be sure of that. _Especially_ once he remembers what they took from him." Sarashiki explained flatly.

"Stay the hell away from my little brother, and we'll have no quarrel, Sarashiki-dono."

Sarashiki laughed.

"It's funny, isn't it? We both have younger siblings that have lived in our shadow, and they both try to break out of the shadow with different methods, but in the end, we both just want a weak younger sibling that we can protect." Sarashiki began walking towards Chifuyu and the elevator down. Once she came directly to the left of Chifuyu, she stopped.

"What is it that _you_ want your brother to be, Chifuyu-sensei? What do _you _want him to do, the next time his precious thing is taken away? What do _you _want him to do, when he finds out about the lengths you have gone, and are willing to go, to protect him?" Sarashiki whispered.

Chifuyu growled and turned to slap Sarashiki, but when she turned around, all that was nearby was an empty hallway. Chifuyu turned to address the two bodyguards.

"Asamiya, Chitsugu, don't tell my brother about this." Chifuyu barked, before stalking away.

XXXXXXXX

Tuesday, after first period

IS Academy, classroom 1-1

Ichika played with his pen, tapping it. His left foot was moving up and down, to the steady rhythm of a song only he could hear. He wasn't humming, but his head was moving up and down, and the pen was in rhythm with the tapping. He looked to his right, where Charlotte was, but she seemed to be ignoring him.

He was reading a book written in German about a branch of physics that should be able to help him. It wasn't.

_Why did Charlotte hug me? Why did I not care? Doesn't matter right now. I need to figure how I can get AIC on my IS. _

He noticed that Houki was moving to him, and Cecilia to Charlotte. Ichika stopped what he was doing and looked up, only to have Houki to drop an envelope on his desk and leave. Cecilia had dropped one on Charlotte's desk. Soon, the other girls in Ichika's class seemed to take this as hint and began to pile their own letters on top of Houki's and Cecilia's. Ichika was just staring blankly at them while Charlotte was laughing and scratching the back of her head.

He sighed and waited for every one of his classmates to leave the classroom, before he stood up and took the armful of envelopes with him, approaching the trash can.

"What are you doing that for?" Charlotte asked accusingly.

Ichika straightened and paused.

"I'm throwing them away."

Charlotte smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. Somehow, despite her expression being almost the same as her normal smile, it sent chills down Ichika's spine.

_Smile normally! Don't look at me like that!_

"So, you're just ignoring the feelings that those girls put into their letters, and the courage it took for them to even write those letters?" Charlotte asked.

"What about you? You're in a worse position than I am for dealing with those, anyway." Ichika responded.

_Yeah, real smooth._

"Yes, but I'm going to have the decency to turn them down in person. It'll hurt their feelings more if I don't." Charlotte huffed.

"You're going to make me do it too, aren't you?" Ichika asked.

_How pathetic._

"If you want me to help you with anything and not ask why you don't like to be touched, yes." Charlotte replied.

Ichika growled.

"Fine."

_No, that was too bitter..._

XXXXXXXX

Tuesday, after classes

IS Academy

Ichika and Charlotte were walking together to the area behind the main school building, which was the designated meeting place for all of their letters.

_Strength in numbers, maybe? I wonder why they decided to do this now..._

_Did Chifuyu-nee tell them something? Did Yamada-sensei?_

_No... I think that this is something Sarashiki-senpai has planned. This isn't going to be much fun._

As soon as Ichika and Charlotte were noticed, the girls seemed to line up in two lines in front of them.

_What the hell?_

Ichika walked over to the front of what he guessed was his line. He looked the girl in front of him in the eyes and said,

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in dating anyone."

_With maybe one exception._

Charlotte said something similar, but Ichika didn't hear. He was trying to calm himself down, keep himself from thinking about how much of an ass he felt like. Houki was in the back of Ichika's line, and so he got to her last. Ichika felt a little guilty, since he actually knew Houki personally, so he wasn't really able to make eye contact, and mumbled his line a little.

"That's okay, I don't want to become anything like Madoka, anyway." She told him.

"What are you talking about?"

Houki paused.

"Exactly." She said sardonically and strode off.

Charlotte was looking at Ichika with her eyebrows raised, a question struggling to get out of her mouth.

_What the hell is Houki going on about? Who is Madoka?_

_Why does that name sound familiar?_

Charlotte looked at Ichika for another couple of moments.

"Ichik-"

Ichika turned to Charlotte, smiling an insincere smile.

"Why don't you go ahead back to our room. I need to ask Chi- _Orimura-sensei_ about a few things, and then I'll see you there. As I recall, it's be your turn to make dinner, anyway? I'll meet you in about forty-five minutes."

_Please say yes. I need to ask questions._

Charlotte seemed to look at him, measuring him up.

"Okay." She smiled.

_Oh good, she's smiling again._

Ichika returned the smile, waved, and ran to the building where Chifuyu's office was.

XXXXXXXX

Five minutes later

IS Academy, Chifuyu's office

"...And my heart rate increases and I start blushing too easily and I go off on weird trains of thought when thinking about her and I didn't mind when she touched me and I don't use an honorific and-"

"Ichika." Chifuyu barked.

He stopped talking instantly.

"Calm down."

Ichika took a couple of deep breaths.

"So, do you have any advice?" Ichika asked.

"I can tell you what I think is going on..."

"What is it, Chifuyu-nee?"

"You're smitten." Chifuyu replied.

"What?"

"You like her. You have a crush on her. You want to protect her and keep her close."

Ichika blushed.

_That makes sense, but..._

Chifuyu smirked.

"Sadly, I can't help you at all with these sorts of subjects."

Ichika looked at her, shocked.

"But... didn't you have a crush on anyone in high school?"

Chifuyu laughed dryly.

"In my freshman year, before the Mondo Grosso, almost every man was afraid of coming near me. I was, after all, the Japanese representative, and IS' hadn't fully been accepted into society yet. The few men who weren't afraid of me didn't think I could beat them because there was 'no way they could lose to a mere _first-year girl_' with one exception who didn't really count. And after that, well... you know why nobody else would want to approach me."

Ichika looked at his feet guiltily.

"What about middle school?"

Chifuyu laughed.

"Too busy keeping Tabane out of trouble."

Ichika chuckled at that.

_So true. I did the same thing with Dan during the early days of middle school. Or was Dan the one keeping me out of trouble? I never could tell..._

"So, what should I do?"

"Ask her out. What do you think?"

Ichika groaned.

"I'll think about it."

He left the room, leaving his sister alone.

"Now... I think I'll need to have a talk with that girl. Ichika trusts her, and that's more than enough of a reason. Yessss..." Chifuyu whispered. At the same time, Charlotte shivered, but couldn't explain why.

XXXXXXXX

At the same time

IS Academy outdoors

Houki couldn't believe it. Ichika turned her down! _Her!_ His childhood friend! They had known each other for _forever! _No... that boy... Charles? He was the one influencing Ichika... he _made_ Ichika turn her down...

After all, how could he not really love her? Houki could see it, he felt so bad about having to lie to her that he couldn't even meet her in the eyes! But what about Madoka?

How could he have forgotten about Madoka? The three of them were always together when they were little. And worse, Chifuyu-san herself told Houki not to mention Madoka to Ichika, or anyone else.

Chifuyu-san even hid away all of the pictures they took together. Chifuyu-san's horrible, and so is Charles. They're manipulating him against her. To prevent his happiness and keep him under their control. Don't they know that the only way Ichika can be happy is to be with somebody who understands him and has known him for years and years, like her? What about nee-san? Is Tabane in it, too?

Who isn't trying to push Ichika and Houki apart? He moved in with her first, she knew him first, it's her _right_ to be together with him.

Houki's phone rang and she snapped it open.

"Hello?" She asked crisply.

"Houki-chan, how have you been?" A girl, who sounded about Houki's age, asked.

"Madoka? Is that you?" Houki asked.

"Of course it is, Houki-chan. I was wondering how you were doing. What has Ichika been up to? He's in your class, right?"

"He is," Houki spat out, "He is, but I think that his roommate and Chifuyu-san are pushing him and I apart. He pretends that he can't even remember you!"

"That is concerning. What do you want to do?"

"I want to show him that _I'm_ the one for him. Do you know any way to help me? Will you help me?"

"Of course I will, Houki-chan. You're my best friend. Now, I'm currently working full-time for a great organization with Mom and Dad. If you can get yourself your own IS and come to us with it, I'm sure that my parents will be happy to accept you."

Houki nodded.

"And then, of course, you three will help me. Sounds great. When are you going to come to get me?"

"How about your birthday? Make sure that you have an IS by then. I know you can do it. If you need it, I can even mail you Tabane-san's phone number."

"No, I already have nee-san's number. Thank you so much, Madoka. I really mean it. See you then!"

Houki hung up. She went back to her room, whistling a happy little tune and practically skipping on her way.

XXXXXXXX

Thirty minutes later

IS Academy dorms, Ichika and Charlotte's room

Ichika went out for a walk around the campus for a bit, to cool off. After he finished his walk, he came to their room to find that dinner was ready. They ate in silence, but not before Ichika announced,

"I know how to get those girls to stop trying to corner us."

Charlotte looked at him quizzically, but when he just ate normally, she ate as well.

After they were done, Ichika cleaned the dishes.

"If they think that we're gay, then they'll have no real reason to try and approach us."

Charlotte looked at him like he was insane.

"What do you mean?"

"Our schoolmates have read all sorts of books about men being couples and lovers. I can be almost certain of this. Most of them have been in girl-only schools since middle school, sometimes even elementary school. The only knowledge that they have of boys around their age is from these books and maybe limited interaction with older brothers. This particular type solely observes, and while they might be a little loud about it, they won't try to follow us or otherwise inconvenience us anymore, if they think we're gay. All we have to do is act out their fantasy, and they won't want to do anything that threatens it."

_Oh god, why the hell am I saying this?_

"You're insane."

_You just noticed? I think I figured that out a while ago._

"I thought that you would have realized that by now."

"I did. I just didn't think that it was this bad."

"Think about it for a bit. We have plenty of time."

"I will, thank you. At least for trying."

Neither of them had any particular stories to tell that night.

XXXXXXXX

Wednesday, after classes

IS Academy, classroom 1-1

As every student was filing out around Ichika and Charlotte, Chifuyu called,

"Dunois. Stay behind."

Ichika and Charlotte shared a quizzical look, but she gave him a quick wave and headed back in.

"I'll be back in our room, Charles." Ichika said on his way out.

Chifuyu seemed to flinch when Ichika said Charlotte's name.

"Walk with me, Dunois." Chifuyu barked.

Charlotte, whose face made her look like a deer caught in headlights, nodded.

"Yes, Orimura-sensei."

They left the classroom and walked the opposite direction from the main group. A couple of students tried to follow them, but the dark aura that Chifuyu was projecting was more than sufficient to prevent people from coming close.

"I can see that my brother is becoming rather attached to you, Dunois."

Charlotte stopped. Chifuyu stopped and turned to look at her.

"May I ask what you mean, Orimura-sensei?" Charlotte replied.

"Oh, for one example, most of the plans Ichika makes for what is coming up these days are often as much about making sure that you're comfortable as making sure he is."

"I... I don't know what to think about that, Orimura-sensei." Charlotte replied honestly. Chifuyu started to walk again, so Charlotte followed.

"He trusts you." Chifuyu stated.

"I thought that he trusted most of our class?"

Chifuyu laughed.

"No. You could count the number of people he trusts on one hand with fingers leftover. The only reason he can even keep himself calm here is that I'm his teacher. It's the only reason he even agreed to come."

"...He's pretty high-strung, anyway..." Charlotte mumbled.

"Yes, he is. But that's about as calm as he can get. He's not used to having this many people paying mind to what he does."

They were now outside of the building with classrooms. Charlotte realized that they were walking to Chifuyu's office.

"What do you mean?"

"He played dumb throughout middle school, making sure that nobody had any reason to pay him any mind for anything. His grades were high enough that the teachers wouldn't bother him about his grades, and low enough that they weren't particularly impressive. He had enough people he hung out with to not be considered a loner, but not so many that he was considered a friendly guy who could get along with everyone."

Charlotte tilted her head.

"People he hung out with? Aren't those friends?"

"No, his friends are the people whom he trusts. Plus a couple of others."

"That's sad."

"He thinks so, too. I think that he hates himself, sometimes. He wants to be able to trust people, to like them, so badly, but he just... can't. He's broken that way." Chifuyu smiled sadly, looking towards the sky before entering the building that contained her office.

"What happened to him?"

"That's something only he should tell you. He's the only one allowed."

This was food for thought for Charlotte. After a few minutes, during which time they made it to Chifuyu's office, she spoke again.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why is he the only one allowed? Why do you seem to be... kinder when speaking of him? Why are you so protective of him?"

Chifuyu looked at Charlotte strangely for a few seconds.

"You really do pay more attention than your appearance suggests, Dunois. To answer your first question, it's a matter of national security. The government trusts him to not talk about it with anyone who can't keep their mouths shut, and he trusts the government not to bother him about it. As for the other two, did you know that I am his legal guardian?"

Charlotte looked at Chifuyu, surprised, then shook her head.

"No. I mean... nothing ever suggested the presence of any parents, so I thought that they were dead, but no records of any family for the two of you can be found in any capacity that my company is capable of finding. I've asked Alcott-san about it, but she hasn't been able to find anything, either. I thought that he was a ward of the government..."

Chifuyu looked at her flatly, eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"I would _appreciate_ it if you stopped looking into our family's affairs." Chifuyu growled.

Charlotte instantly straightened. Chifuyu sighed.

"I'm too sober for the rest of this. Around the corner, to the left, there's a vending machine. Here's 500 yen. Go get me something."

Charlotte sighed.

"Should you really be drinking on a work day?"

Chifuyu strengthened her glare.

"Just do it." She growled.

Charlotte nodded and ran out of the room, not looking either direction, and went around the corner.

"All three of you. Shinonono, Alcott, Bodewig. Leave. You can't hear the rest of this. Don't think for a second that you can trick me."

She heard two yelps and one call that sounded suspiciously like a 'yes, ma'am' before the telltale sounds of footsteps (or marching, in one case) indicated that all three were leaving.

A few moments later, Charlotte returned.

"Orimura-sensei, there wasn't anything to drink there."

"Really? Damn, they got rid of it again..."

"Uhh... Orimura-sensei... can I go now?" Charlotte asked timidly.

"No, there are a few more things I want to tell you. Ichika doesn't trust anyone easily. He trusts you. That, more than anything else, can be

considered a testament to your character. He values your opinions, which is almost as important. Do you understand?"

The aura in the room darkened even more.

"Y-Yes ma'am."

"If you ever do anything to betray my brother's trust, I will personally see to it that you will never see the light of day again. I have killed to protect him, and I'm not afraid to do it again."

The two women made eye contact. Neither wanted to break it first, for fear of showing the other one weakness.

"Orimura-sensei."

"Be quick, Dunois."

"...Ichika's idea for getting our classmates and fellow students to leave us alone is for us to pretend that we're dating."

Chifuyu stared at her blankly. There was silence for about thirty seconds. Chifuyu snorted, then chuckled, then burst out laughing.

"Oh man, seriously? Hah! Do you want me to beat some sense into him for you?"

Charlotte stared at Chifuyu, head tilted slightly to the right.

"But... He's your brother, right? Shouldn't you side with him?"

"I'm his guardian, and the closest thing to a parent he _has_. It's my job to make sure he stays in line."

"So, what should I do?"

"Go with it. It'll be interesting, to say the least."

"But... then I'll be lying to everyone..."

"You already are. Go, I have paperwork to do. Tell Ichika that his request is going to be announced Friday, with some changes from the Student Council President. Nobody's bothered to put her in line..."

"I understand. Thank you for the advice, Orimura-sensei." Charlotte bowed and left the room as Chifuyu waved her off.

_**Before the talk...**_

"Dunois. Stay behind."

When Houki heard that, she stopped walking away from the classroom, and hid behind the corner by the door. She didn't notice until after, but she was behind Cecilia and Laura. She glared at Laura.

"What are you doing here?" Houki whispered.

Laura glared back.

"I'm here to follow the instructor. Don't get in my way."

Ichika walked out the room, and headed away from where the girls were hiding. A few seconds later, Chifuyu came out, followed by Charlotte, and they headed to where the girls were hiding.

"Quickly! Move away!" Cecilia whispered. All three backed farther away from Charlotte and Chifuyu, managing to not be noticed. Just after Chifuyu and Charlotte passed by them, they heard,

"I see my brother is becoming rather attached to you, Dunois."

Cecilia and Houki gasped. Houki, shaking, clenched her fists. Laura looked incredibly bored and uninterested, but seemed happy with the general dark aura that Chifuyu was giving off.

After talking for a bit more, Chifuyu and Charlotte continued walking, and their three followers snuck behind them.

When Chifuyu and Charlotte left the building, their three followers waited a little bit, then followed again. They could hear some of the following conversation, but they really couldn't make out much of anything while their hearts were beating too rapidly. (Besides Laura, who was perfectly calm, but she didn't really care much about the subject material.)

They followed Chifuyu and Charlotte with bated breath, and eventually made it to Chifuyu's office, where they camped out behind the open door, listening. When Chifuyu sent Charlotte out and, once she was out of hearing range, said,

"All three of you. Shinonono, Alcott, Bodewig. Leave. You can't hear the rest of this. Don't think for a second that you can trick me."

Cecilia and Houki both yelped. Laura said,

"Yes, Ma'am!" She even saluted, though Chifuyu wouldn't have been able to see that.

Laura marched off while Houki and Cecilia followed.

"What was with that?" Houki asked the other two.

"I don't know. Maybe Ichika really does swing that way...?" Cecilia responded.

"It doesn't matter. What's important is that Ichika Orimura makes Instructor weak. Weak and warm. This is not good. He isn't worthy of being her sister. He must be destroyed."

Cecilia and Houki stopped walking. Laura stopped as well.

"What?"

"Take that back!" Houki shouted.

"No. There's nothing you two _civilians_ can do to make me take it back in the first place. What are you going to do, fight me?"

Houki and Cecilia shared a glance.

"Yes!" They responded simultaneously.

"Fine. Get yourself an IS, Shinonono. Let's settle this on the battlefield."

XXXXXXXX

An hour later,

IS Academy, training arena 1

Houki had to convince a teacher to supervise in order to gain access to an IS, so rather than facing Chifuyu, she went and got Yamada to supervise the match. She had a katana with her in the Uchigane that she was using.

"Whenever you three are ready..." Yamada called.

"So... A girl whose only significant quality is her parentage, as well as a girl from a country whose only quality is its ancient culture... I can't believe that either of you think that you can take _me _on. Both of you, come at me at once. Maybe that way, you'll put up a fight..."

Laura put her right hand out and beckoned them. Houki charged in first. Laura dodged her initial attacks, but used AIC to deal with Cecilia's lasers. Laura fired a pair of whips, which latched themselves onto Houki's legs. Cecilia tried to fire her missiles, but Laura fired her railgun at Cecilia, knocking her in the air.

Using her whips, Laura threw Houki into Cecilia. Cecilia fired off both of her rockets and Laura caught them with her whips before throwing them back at Cecilia and Houki. The resulting explosion was not dodged.

An audience was gathering in the stadium, including Ichika, Rin and Charlotte.

When Houki and Cecilia tried to get up, Laura wrapped a whip around each of their necks. Houki and Cecilia could only struggle against the weight as they tried to get out of the way. Laura began punching them, starting with Cecilia. After a thirty-second beat down, she moved over to Houki. Yamada ineffectually tried to stop Laura, but she was ignored. Laura took Houki and Cecilia each in a pair of whips, threw them at each other, then threw them to the sides of the arena. Laura went over to Cecilia to punch her some more.

"Things'll get bad at this rate. Is there anything that you're going to do, Ichika?" Rin asked concernedly.

"Yes, Yukihira can break through the arena's barrier. However, I don't need to do anything."

_Chifuyu-nee is here now. This is about to end..._

A new voice was shouting on the intercom.

"LAURA BODEWIG, STOP THIS INSTANT!" Chifuyu yelled.

Laura stopped punching, at least.

"GET OUT OF THE IS AND END THIS MATCH, OR I WILL _BAN_ YOU FROM THE TOURNAMENT!"

Laura dematerialized her IS and strode out of the arena. Medics rushed to take Cecilia and Houki out and to the infirmary.

"We'd better go visit them, Charles." Ichika stated.

"...Okay..."

XXXXXXXX

A half-hour later

IS Academy Infirmary

Cecilia and Houki were in the beds closest to the window. They were covered in bandages, nursing black eyes. Houki had her right arm in a sling, while Cecilia was wearing a neckbrace.

"What did Mädchen say to you two to make you want to go against her?"

Houki and Cecilia looked at each other. They nodded.

"Oh, Bodewig-san started insulting us, our countries, and our bodies, so we challenged her to honorable combat. Didn't think she'd be this strong, though..." Cecilia said.

_Bullshit. However, I'll drop it._

"Fair enough."

Ichika's phone made a beep.

_Hm?_

He opened his phone to read his new text from Chifuyu.

**Was going to announce it in two days. After this incident, changed my mind. Good luck, you'll need it...**

_Huh? What..._

Ichika then heard, and felt the rumbling.

_Oh no, an earthquake _now_? This is..._

He heard the girlish cheers after.

_No. Nononononononononooo!_

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed, at the same time as a horde consisting of every girl in their grade entered the infirmary.

_Shit. Windows are too high. Only exit is over there. How to escape?_

"Orimura-kun! Will you be my partner?" About half of the girls asked.

"Dunois-kun! Will you team up with me?" The others asked.

Ichika and Charlotte looked at each other, understanding dawning on their faces. They silently nodded at each other.

_Excellent. This'll go well._

"I-I'm sorry, everyone, but I'm teaming up with Charles." Ichika explained.

Everyone gasped, including Charlotte. She looked like she was about to cry.

"B-But Ichika..." She sniffed.

"No, Charles, don't cry! What is it?"

"I-If I team up with you, how can I earn that date?" Charlotte asked, embarrassed.

Ichika's eyes widened.

_Damn, she's an excellent actress. Alright, I know how to respond to this..._

Ichika wrapped Charlotte in an embrace, and took her chin in his right hand. He looked into her deep eyes. She was blushing, and he was blushing slightly as well. Every girl in the room was watching wide-eyed, with their hands together.

"Charles, if it's you, I'll take you on a date any time." Ichika whispered softly.

_Gag. Oh man, this is harder than I thought. Can't laugh yet..._

"Kyaaaaa!" Their audience screeched.

"Really, Ichika?"

"Of course. I'll never lie to you, Charles..." Ichika said with conviction.

Their audience looked like it was about to faint.

"Kyaa! Marvelous!" Their audience left the room, to spread the news to every one in the school.

"Let's go back now, Charles."

Charlotte was still blushing faintly.

"Okay, Ichika..."

They left the room, hand-in-hand.

"I guess they really are gay." Houki said flatly, though inside she was seething. How _dare _he!

"How shameful." Cecilia replied.

XXXXXXXX

Shortly after

IS Academy Dorms, Ichika and Charlotte's room

On the way back to their dorms, Ichika saw a sheet of paper with the rules on it. After reading it, they went back to their dorm, where Ichika spoke up.

"Are you okay, Charlotte?"

Charlotte smiled sheepishly at Ichika.

"Yes, I am. That was fun, though."

Ichika laughed.

"Yes, it was. I must say, your acting was impressive. We'll probably have to act like that more. Houki-san and Cecilia-san's injuries are going to keep them out of the tournament, but the practice arenas have been closed until the day of the match. However, I have an idea..."

XXXXXXXX

Sunday, after breakfast

IS Academy dorms, Ichika and Charlotte's room

Ichika had ordered something from Tabane. He and Charlotte continued their act, which by that time was accepted as part of the school. As an experiment, they tried eating lunch in the cafeteria. Nobody came closer than the other end of a long table to them.

There was a knock on their door, and when Ichika went to answer it, Asamiya handed him a package. He thanked her and closed the door.

"The simulator is here."

"What are we going to do with it?"

_Easy._

"I have data on Rin-san, Mädchen, and the Uchiganes that basic students deal with in the school. There are only three representatives in our year that we have to worry about facing. One of them, Sarashiki-senpai's younger sister, doesn't have her personal machine yet, which means that she can be taken into account via the use of a higher difficulty AI. I have enough behavioral data on Rin-san and Mädchen to enter that into the simulator, and it already has all of the data on our IS' installed."

Charlotte blinked.

"What?" She asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"We're going to use this to practice against the many possible combinations of challenging opponents. We should put special emphasis on going against Mädchen teamed with an Uchigane and Mädchen teamed with Rin-san. Considering my luck, as well as the taste of the person who controls this, I think that the latter of those two is more than likely."

Charlotte looked uneasy.

"But... Isn't this cheating?"

"Charlotte. Do you want to win?"

"Yes."

"Then let's do this. I'll help you with your homework, so that you can have more time."

"Sure. But, we have to go to the mall after the match in exchange, okay?"

"Of course." Ichika responded, smiling.

XXXXXXXX

The day of the match

In the days leading up to the match, Ichika and Charlotte ate all of their meals at the cafeteria in order to save time and be able to practice more. They would sometimes feed each other, or if Charlotte didn't like something, Ichika would offer to feed it to her with his mouth. Every girl in school (Besides Laura), too satisfied with the fulfillment of many maidenly dreams, left the two of them alone. Or at least, kept a respectful distance away.

Ichika and Charlotte grew closer despite, or perhaps because, of all this. They had some countermeasures against AIC that they had managed to prove the worth of using the simulator and, like Ichika thought, their first match was to be against Rin and Laura.

Ichika and Charlotte were in the launch pad.

Ichika smiled a downright feral smile, like a hawk that has just sighted its prey.

"Are you ready, Charles?"

"Of course, Ichika. Let's win."

XXXXXXX


	10. Chapter 9: Minion Get!

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text _means Ichika's thoughts.

**Part 1, Chapter 9: Minion Get!**

XXXXXXXX

Thursday, the day of the tournament

IS Academy, Arena 1

Chifuyu and Yamada were in the control tower, as well as the teachers for class 1-4.

Rin and Laura launched out of the west side launch pad while Ichika and Charlotte emerged from the east. All of the students were watching with bated breath- they had all heard about how much Ichika's team gets along with Laura. The people from the various IS companies and teams were excited, as well. This was the first time they would get to see Ichika Orimura, the man who can pilot an IS, as well as Charles Dunois, the man debuting the Raphael Revive Mk. II, in actual combat.

For this match, Ichika has twelve sword bits equipped, eight speed bits, eight smokers (because he still hasn't given up hope on them), and six new-types that each used one bus slot. Charlotte was running a massive pile of weapons, mostly so that would be prepared for every situation.

"Match... Start!" Chifuyu barked.

As soon as the match started, Charlotte barreled towards Laura while Ichika circled Rin. Charlotte took out a pair of SMGs and started firing at Laura, who easily blocked with AIC. Rin began firing her Dragon Cannon, but Ichika easily dodged a couple hits from that. Rin was keeping her distance, and when Ichika began flying towards her, she reversed her direction- right towards Laura. Once Rin was about halfway to Laura, Ichika activated his speed bits and used the boost in speed to accelerate right to Rin. Ichika turned from Rin and used ignition boost to charge behind Laura, with Yukihira materialized and activated. Laura sensed his presence and blocked with AIC.

_Damn, there goes the easy way..._

"Charles! Plan B!" Ichika shouted.

Ichika deactivated and dematerialized Yukihira and surrounded his right arm with extended sword bits. He let six of the smokers and two swords fall to the ground and wait on standby.

Charlotte disengaged from Laura and switched targets to Rin, who began trying to close the distance while firing her Dragon Cannon, which Charlotte dodged or blocked with a shield that she had brought specifically for this battle.

At the same time, Ichika was constantly attacking Laura, forcing her to the defensive. Rin tried to take a swing at Charlotte, but she dodged back and continued her stream of fire.

"Ichika! UN-5!"

Ichika pushed his right arm with the four swords towards Laura and then accelerated, going the same direction as Laura while forcing her to maintain AIC. Ichika materialized a new-type bit in his left hand, released its whip and wrapped it around Charlotte. He used the bit to throw her high in the air, then dematerialized it and switched it out for a sword bit, which he threw at Rin.

Rin dodged easily, but that was enough for Charlotte to fire a rocket at her and then switch to the sniper rifle, with which she used to start shooting. These shots were faster, but Rin was still dodging about half of them. Rin let off more shots from her Dragon Cannon, but Charlotte was still dodging because she was taking the shots without using the scope.

Ichika flew back from Laura, who used this opportunity to fire her railgun at him. He dodged it. He swiped his hand with the sword bits attached quickly, causing them all to launch at Laura simultaneously. He materialized and activated a whip bit in his other hand, and while Laura was busy blocking his swords, he wrapped the whip around her leg.

As soon as Laura noticed this, she activated several of her wires, firing at Ichika. Ichika tried to dodge most of them, but they were connected via his whip and he didn't want to release, so he was unable to dodge the one headed to his left hand, which was holding the whip bit.

Ichika shrugged, materialized and activated Yukihira, and cut the wire off. He then used all of strength to throw Laura, and while she was on the way down he dematerialized his blade bits that she had blocked.

Once Laura had landed, he activated the smokers, quickly covering the ground of the arena in smoke. He smiled smugly before he dematerialized and then rematerialized the whip back in his hand, unextended. He then activated all eight of his speed bits and took off towards Rin. Charlotte took out the rocket launcher, and began firing with a one-second delay between shots.

Rin swore under her breath, and started dodging the rockets. She took a quick look around her surroundings to discover that neither her teammate nor her opponent's teammate were within sight. Charlotte fired two rockets, each with a tenth-second delay between them and the previous shot, which threw off Rin's rhythm. Ichika took a swing at Rin's right arm, which just barely missed, so he deactivated Yukihira and wrapped her torso in one of the whips before using the whip to hold Rin in place while Charlotte used her rockets on fully-automatic mode to deplete Rin's shield.

"Charles! Plan C!"

Laura fired off a couple of random blasts from her Railgun in Ichika's general direction, which both missed. Sadly for her, this revealed her location. Ichika threw Rin towards Laura's location, then activated one of the sword bits that he had been keeping on the floor of the arena and had it target Rin. Rin was unable to regain control of her IS before she was about to collide with Laura, who used AIC to nullify Rin's momentum before she crashed and lowered both of their IS' shield energy. Unfortunately for both of them, Ichika had planned for this to happen, and so while Rin was suspended with AIC, she felt a sword impact in her back, depleting what little remained of her shield energy.

Ichika dematerialized his whip and took out eight sword bits, rearranging them into a shield in his left hand. He dematerialized all of the scattered sword bits for later use.

"I told you the smokers would work." He called to Charlotte.

"Yes, yes, you were right. Where is Bodewig-san?"

Laura had moved from her last location and was currently using the smoke to her advantage.

Inside the observation tower were three very surprised teachers and one smug-looking one.

"What... what the hell was that?" Class 1-4's homeroom teacher asked.

"That... was my brother. And his partner. I think he planned for these instances, I recall hearing him call out a 'Plan B'. He probably planned for about half of the things that they just did to go wrong and had plans for those instances as well. Dunois is smart, he probably memorized all of them as well."

"Orimura-sensei, if there was a 'Plan B' then wouldn't there be a 'Plan A', as well?" Yamada asked.

"If I had to guess, Yamada-kun, I would say that 'Plan A' was to take out Bodewig using the Barrier Nullifying Attack on Yukihira. Effective, but Bodewig is a little more clever than to fall for that..."

Back in the arena, the smoke was fading away.

"Charles, plan G!"

Charlotte took out a different pair of SMGs, which fired larger, exploding lasers. After every shot, she switched them with a different looking SMG that fired the same type of shot. Most of the smoke was blasted away by that point, but they still didn't see Laura yet.

"Ichika, SMGs 1-4 are out! I need 30 to load a new clip!"

"Thanks for the update. DS-30-3, then wait for the signal."

Charlotte flew down to the south corner of the arena and took out her rocket launcher.

"Oy, Mädchen! Are you just going to hide there like some coward, or are you going to face me?" Ichika shouted.

A rail gun blast flew from an area to the right and below Ichika. He blocked it and Charlotte started unloading the rocket launcher in full automatic. After she ran out of ammo, Ichika materialized Yukihira and flew down, shield-first, to where Laura was, only to be greeted by an extended spear in his stomach.

"Okay, didn't see that one coming." Ichika grunted, before flying around Laura while laying down sword bits on the ground. He was halfheartedly slashing at Laura with Yukihira. Just before the rockets arrived, he activated all of the sword bits to stab Laura (who blocked all of them with AIC) and flew away. All of the rockets seemed to connect.

"That had better have hit her, Charles! It cost me three sword bits, and I think a couple of smokers!"

Not waiting for the smoke to clear, Charlotte took a couple of shots with her sniper rifle in Laura's direction, while Ichika dematerialized all of his bits that were currently deployed. Ichika materialized Yukihira in his right hand and held three of his sword bits like a claw in his left.

Laura launched herself out of the smoke cloud, and Ichika charged after her. Charlotte took out an assault rifle and followed, making shots when she could, but she was directly behind Ichika, so that made it a little hard for her.

Laura activated both her laser swords, and parried away both of Ichika's strikes before knocking him back with her railgun. She then turned to Charlotte and hit Charlotte a couple of times with her railgun, but when she was charging up her third shot the combined effect of one of Ichika's sword bits ramming into her stomach and one of Ichika's whips wrapping around her leg caused her to completely miss her shot and fire at the audience instead, who were fortunately shielded by a nigh-indestructible barrier.

The audience that had been in the area hit by Laura's railgun blast would forever curse their luck, as they had to wait for smoke to clear and were not able to see what happened next.

Charlotte moved herself slightly to the side of Ichika, so that while Laura was trying to attack Ichika, she also had to busy herself blocking rapid attacks from Charlotte's assault rifle instead of the deadly attacks that Ichika was capable of.

Ichika rapidly dematerialized his claw, and then materialized three more whips and wrapped them around Laura's other limbs. He had the whips attach themselves to the ground, rooting themselves deep enough in the ground that Laura wouldn't be able to force them out, and far enough apart that Laura wasn't able to really move much.

"Charles! SG-1!"

"Right!" Charlotte materialized a gun and threw it at Ichika, who caught it easily. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a white bolt-action rifle, but it was double-barreled.

Ichika flew right above Laura with the gun in his hands, having dematerialized the sword bits for it. He put his left foot on Laura's right shoulder, and kneeled with his right knee between her left arm and leg.

He brandished the gun above her.

"Do you know what this is, Mädchen?" He asked calmly.

"Halt die Schnauze, Du schwule Sau!"

Ichika's right eyebrow twitching in anger.

"I'll tell you then."

He fired for the first time.

"THIS!"

He fired again.

"IS!"

He fired once again.

"MY!"

He fired once more.

"BOOMSTICK!"

He fired his shotgun one more time. Laura tried to use AIC, but she wasn't expecting more than two shots from the shotgun for the first couple of words, because of how it looked. After that, she had no time to bring up her AIC.

"I... lost? I lost in the first round? This... this is unacceptable!" Laura screamed.

Laura started thrashing around. Ichika was knocked off her, and he flew away, just out of reach of the electricity that was now coming out from her IS.

Charlotte tried to shoot at Laura with a pair of SMGs, but she was electrocuted and passed out.

"Shit! Charles!" Ichika flew over and grabbed Charlotte, carrying her away from Laura while keeping an eye on his opponent.

Laura's IS began to melt and bubble around her body, and she began screaming as it enveloped her.

_So... You activated the VT system, did you. I didn't mention it to Charlotte, but I think I know how to handle this._

"All students! This is a level D state of emergency! Please evacuate immediately, teachers are on their way!"

_Right, like we can wait for them..._

As the black mass surrounding Laura took shape, Ichika's face hardened into a mask of rage. Forming into the outline of a woman carrying a large sword, Ichika's eyes widened as realization dawned on his features.

_That's... Chifuyu-nee..._

"So, you even go this far, do you, Mädchen..."

Ichika materialized Yukihira and all eight of his remaining sword bits, then tried to attack Laura. She blocked his sword with her own attack, then hit his right leg with her sword. The armor shattered, cutting his leg and knocking him back. His IS dematerialized, out of shield energy.

Ichika crawled to Charlotte.

"Charles... wake up... I need an energy transfer..." He moaned. He shook Charles.

"Ichika... what do you need it for?" Charlotte asked, sitting up and opening her eyes.

"That." Ichika said, pointing at the thing that used to be Laura.

"Why?" Charlotte asked.

"Because it's copying Chifuyu-nee, and it's by my pride as a little brother and man that I must defeat it." Ichika explained.

Charlotte giggled, then looked at Laura, who was now surrounded by teachers on standby, then back to Ichika.

"Alright. However, if you lose, you have to wear a girl's uniform here at school from now on, and we'll switch roles to match it."

Ichika's eyes widened. He then nodded, smiling confidently.

"Okay. And if I win, we're going on a date Sunday."

Charlotte squeaked a little before blushing. She nodded vigorously after, smiling.

"It's a promise." Charlotte responded. She took out a cable and plugged it in to Ichika's standby IS.

"Approving energy transfer."

Charlotte's IS dematerialized, and Ichika's reappeared, with only the wings and legs.

"Huh... Ichika, did you want to fly?"

Ichika smiled.

"I believe... you already know _that_ answer..."

Ichika summoned two of the remaining sword bits, throwing them both and pinning the giant IS' arms. He activated the Barrier Nullifying Attack on a third one held in his hands and flew in at it. It was slowed down enough by the bits in its arms that when it tried to strike his chest, it got his left arm instead, and he made a shallow cut that opened a slit in the thing's chest. It widened, and Laura fell out. As the thing was evaporating, Ichika dematerialized his IS and caught Laura.

"Why are you trying to be strong? What makes you strong?" Laura asked.

"I'm still weak. No matter how much stronger I get, I'll still be weak." Ichika replied.

"But, if I do get strong one day, there's somebody I want to defeat. Somebody I want to destroy. Somebody that I can't forgive."

"I... see..." Laura began,

"That's so... so completely like that person..."

"Yes. That's why, I want to know. Will you help me, with your strength, to destroy my enemy, Laura Bodewig?"

XXXXXXXX

An hour later

IS Academy cafeteria

As Ichika and Charlotte were eating dinner together, Ichika received a text from Chifuyu.

**Entire incident is classified. Wasn't installed by her. Tell me about this sort of shit next time, I'm letting you get away with this warning. Don't use Tabane's simulator during the school year again, it's an unfair advantage.**

_She only said school year..._

"Huh." Ichika said out loud.

"What is it?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh, it seems like that entire incident is classified. Too many people would get in too much trouble, or something. We aren't allowed to use the simulator again, but that's fine. I only wanted it for that fight, anyway. I'll send it back to Tabane-nee tomorrow."

Ichika pretended not to notice Houki standing there, watching them, and Charlotte's back was to her.

"So, what do you want to do for our date Sunday?" Charlotte asked. Houki visibly flinched.

_I feel kind of bad about doing this to Houki-san, but she just doesn't know when to give up._

"Well, we're moving to the Seaside Academy soon, so I thought that we'd go get swimsuits. After that, there's a nice movie place in the area, and there are a few restaurants there that I've always wanted to try but haven't."

_Because they didn't meet my requirements. Sadly, none of the ones that do, besides Dan's, are decent for dates, so I'm stuck. And there's no way in hell I'm taking somebody on a date to _Dan's_ house._

"Sounds like fun."

Houki eventually strode off, and Yamada came running up to Charlotte and Ichika.

"Good news, you two! The Men's large bath is now open!"

_Great. I've been wanting a decent onsen for a while now._

"I'm heading over, Charles." Ichika stated. Charlotte started following him.

"What is it?" Ichika whispered.

"If we go at separate times, people will be suspicious. This is for the best."

_Do I even have that kind of self-restraint?_

_...Probably..._

"I see. Let's go, then."

_**At the bath...**_

"Alright, you can come in, Charlotte!" Ichika called.

"Ri-Right." Charlotte replied.

Ichika heard a splash, and felt soft skin on his back shortly after. He felt his face warm up.

"I-I'll move..." Ichika said.

"No, no, it's fine. There's something I wanted to talk to you about." Charlotte chattered.

"What is it?"

"Since I'm going to stay in school, I'd rather not spend my entire time here as a guy. Is it okay for me to..."

"Of course it's fine. Don't think for a second that I have any right to tell you to not do that."

Charlotte turned around and grabbed his shoulders.

_Oh shit woman, are you _trying_ to test my restraint? We could get in all sorts of trouble if something much more than this happens..._

"Thank you, Ichika. For everything you've done so far." Charlotte replied.

"Are you sure you want this, Charlotte? More than likely, I'm going to try to protect you by hiding you away from everyone if we become any closer. I don't think you want that."

Charlotte laughed.

"I trust you, Ichika. I'll trust you to make the right decision." Charlotte replied.

Ichika smiled and held her left hand in his right while closing his eyes. They stayed like that, for a few minutes, each listening to the other breathe and enjoying the peace and privacy after a hectic day. After a while Ichika began,

"We should go back to our room, Charlotte. We still have some homework left, and I have some shipments to make and plans to lay."

"Right." Charlotte replied.

Ichika got up and left the bath, getting changed into his clothing and waited by the exit. Charlotte came out behind him, changed back into a man, a couple minutes later.

_**Meanwhile, at Laura's room**_

Laura was sitting in her bed, having successfully driven away her poor, poor roommate. Not like it took much effort on Laura's part. She dialed a number on her cellphone.

After one beep the phone was answered.

"Clarissa, it's me. I am in need of advice."

A stern woman who sounded to be in her mid-twenties responded.

"What's the problem, Second Lieutenant Laura Bodewig?"

"It is about Ichika Orimura." Laura responded.

"Ah, the younger brother of Instructor Orimura, correct?"

"Yes."

"What is the issue?"

"He has defeated me in honorable combat, and asked me to aid him in destroying his enemies."

Clarissa paused. This was not consistent with what she had pried out of Chifuyu back when Chifuyu was in Germany and Clarissa got Chifuyu drunk. The info was almost worth it, too.

"Are you sure that's what he said?" Clarissa asked confusedly.

"Yes, positive."

"He didn't say anything overly chauvinistic about protecting you that just _sounded_ like asking for your strength?"

"No, he asked me to, and I quote, 'Will you help me, with your strength, to destroy my enemy, Laura Bodewig?' I believe you can now see my problem. I look forward to your advice."

"Roger. The Black Hare squad stands with you as always."

Clarissa thought for a moment.

"Have you tried making him your wife?"

Laura sputtered.

"P-Pardon?"

Clarissa sighed.

"Have you tried declaring him your spouse?"

Laura thought for a moment.

"No, I don't think that would go over well."

"Why not?"

"There's this other guy in the school, and they spend a lot of time together and I think they're 'dating' and the Instructor had a talk with this other guy about not breaking Ichika Orimura's heart."

Clarissa thought, trying restrain a nosebleed.

"Then, you think that if anyone, this other man would be the spouse?"

"Yes." Laura replied without hesitation.

"Then this other guy shall be the Misses, and you shall call Ichika Orimura your Commander from now on!" Clarissa proclaimed. Laura could hear clapping and cheering from the other members of the squad in the background.

Laura's mouth made an 'o' shape.

"Hooo... I see..."

"Do you understand, Bodewig?"

"Yes, Clarissa! Thank you for your advice! I shall follow it to the utmost!"

"Good." Clarissa grunted, ending the call.

XXXXXXXX

Friday, start of classes

IS Academy, classroom 1-1

Yamada looked at the classroom awkwardly.

"Um... I have another 'new' friend to introduce today..." She announced, voice shaking.

Charlotte walked in politely, smiling radiantly.

"I'm Charlotte Dunois. It's nice to meet you all, once again!"

Ichika was sitting in his usual spot, with his head resting on his clasped hands, trying hard not to notice the length of Charlotte's skirt, or her chest, or anything else that might cause him problems. He was failing.

_Goddamn those were on my back and I didn't try _anything_? I hate being restrained._

"Sooo... Dunois-kun was actually Dunois-san?" One of Ichika's classmates asked.

"Huh?" Houki and Cecilia asked angrily, feeling rather cheated.

"Didn't the men's bath open yesterday?"

"Yeah, it did! I even saw the two of them going in it!"

"Wait, so doesn't that mean that Orimura-kun knew all along?"

"Huh, so the Misses really was..." Laura mumbled.

Charlotte shot Ichika a concerned glance. Ichika waved it off and smiled at her.

_It's not you that they're going to be mad at. It's me._

Rin busted down the wall to their classroom, piloting her IS while on the way in.

"Ichikaaaa... How dare you play games with my dreams and fantasies!" She shouted, while charging up the Dragon Cannon.

_Shit, there's no way I'm going to be able to dodge that without my IS._

Rin fired, but Ichika didn't feel anything.

Looking in front of him, he saw Laura blocking the shot using AIC.

_Well, should probably be polite._

"Mädchen! You saved me. Thank you."

Laura stood in salute before him.

"Of course. I was doing my job as your subordinate, Commander."

_Commander, huh? I can use this..._

"Very well. Mädchen, you are dismissed. Return to normal classroom duties."

"Yes, sir!" Laura replied.

Charlotte looked at Ichika bemusedly. Ichika smiled at Charlotte.

_Well, would you look at that? I've gained a minion..._

XXXXXXXX

Friday night

IS Academy, outdoors

Houki was standing outside the arenas on her cell.

"Hi hi, are you hiiigh~? It's everyone's idol, Tabane Shinonono~"

Houki growled and took the phone away from her head.

"Wait, wait! Don't hang up, Houki-chan!"

Houki put the phone back by her ear.

"Nee-san..." Houki growled.

"No, no, no. You don't need to say anything, Houki-chan. I know exactly what you want. Even though you never write." Tabane said with mock sadness.

"Anyway, you want it, don't you? Your own personal machine?"

Houki calmed a little.

"Of course, I have had one ready for a while now~ Top-of-the-line, like any others that I make, and also different from normal. And it's even a match for the white and orange ones!"

"And this machine's name is... Akatsubaki!"

XXXXXXXX

Sunday morning

The mall

Ichika quickly obtained Laura's cell phone number and added it to his contacts. She added his as well, but under the alias, 'Commander'. He wrote her in as 'Mädchen', so it was fair. Ichika and Charlotte agreed that they could take advantage of Laura's new loyalty to make sure that nobody was following them. (Charlotte said that it would be helpful, but Ichika knew that she just didn't want to word it in any particular way that was rude. Ichika also thought that this habit of Charlotte's was adorable, though he would never admit it, and so he let her think that.) The only people whose texts Ichika was even supposed to read during the date were Chifuyu's, Charlotte's and Laura's.

Charlotte had very little casual female clothing and Ichika had plenty of casual male clothing that he didn't want to wear, so they elected to go in the school uniforms. They rode the monorail to the town, and from there walked to the mall.

As soon as they had entered, Ichika received a text.

_**From: Mädchen**_

_**You're being followed by the Chinese girl and the British girl. What do you want me to do, Commander?**_

Ichika showed the text to Charlotte.

"I know what I'm going to do, but I thought you should know."

"Thanks, Ichika."

Ichika grabbed her hand and started walking. With his other hand, he wrote up the reply, which Laura received.

_**From: Commander**_

_**Keep with them. Use any excuse needed to make them let you stay in their group. Keep an eye out for trouble, and keep them away from us.**_

At some point while he was writing this text, Charlotte had wrapped both of her arms around Ichika's and was current pressing his arm against her chest.

"You know, if everyone is calling you Charlotte, my calling you that is no longer special. I think from now on, I'm calling you Char. No objections." Ichika said.

"Char?" Charlotte asked. Her cheeks reddened slightly.

"Yep. It's fast and intimate. It fits better than other options, too. You do like it, right?"

_Not to mention my now second-favorite Char. Who was a complete and total badass. Just like you._

"Yes, I do." Charlotte replied, nodding her head rapidly and blushing slightly.

"Good. I'm glad." Ichika smiled.

While Ichika and Charlotte entered the swimsuit store, their three followers waited outside. Laura was watching the area around her, Cecilia was grumbling into a tissue, and Rin was watching with curiosity and some degree of pride.

"Char! How's this one?" Ichika held up a bright green speedo.

Charlotte rushed over.

"No. Definitely not. Where did you even get the idea for this? It's a definite no."

Ichika blinked.

_Huh. I didn't think it was too bad..._

"Then, how about this one?" Ichika held up a striped pair of trunks.

Charlotte stared at him, wide-eyed.

"You're kidding, right?" She asked.

"No, why? I know that Chifuyu-nee doesn't like my taste in clothing, so she picks all of it for me, but..."

"Oh, I see. That explains a lot. From now on, you aren't allowed to buy clothing without either my or Orimura-sensei's approval, okay?"

Ichika stared at her incredulously.

"If it makes you happy, Char, sure. What do you want me to get?"

Charlotte handed him a pair of dark blue board shorts.

"Find the right size. I hope you can at least remember that. I'm going to pick a swimsuit."

_I should probably expect this to take a while. She is a woman, and she is going _clothes_ shopping. I think I remember Chifuyu-nee telling me once that buying a swimsuit takes even longer._

Ichika waited about fifteen minutes before Charlotte came to him.

_That was faster than expected, but I'm not going to complain._

"Alright, here's mine. Let's go check out." Charlotte told him.

Ichika nodded. They paid for their swimsuits and began heading out the door.

Ichika received a pair of texts.

_**From: Mädchen**_

_**I see a large group of men in black suits coming in from the entrance that you took into this mall. They're walking with purpose, and they look armed. Commander, please advise.**_

_**From: Dan**_

_**Ichika, here I am, carrying bags for my sister, and what do I see? Rin, Alcott-san, and some silver-haired girl spying on you and... dare I say it? Your girlfriend shopping for swimsuits. Then, I turn around and see a bunch of men in black suits coming in from the entrance. What did you do this time?**_

Ichika swore under his breath.

_Dan still keeps the mirror with him when he goes out places, right?_

_**To: Dan**_

_**From: Ichika**_

_**Dan, go to Rin-san and Cecilia-san and escort them out the back. Don't look behind you any more than you have. Drop the mirror off with the silver-haired girl first if you have it.**_

_**To: Mädchen**_

_**From: Commander**_

_**Mädchen, the man with dark red hair and a bandana is a trusted friend of mine. If he has one, he's going to give you a mirror and take Rin-san and Alcott-san away from here. After he gives you the mirror, subtly join up with Char and I, then pass me the mirror. Keep with us, and keep your wits about you. If Char and I separate, for any reason, stick with Char and listen to her unless she tells you to do something that you think risks her safety.**_

Ichika hit send for both.

"Char, keep calm and walk normally. We're going to work our way out to the back door. I have you-know-what with me still, but we hopefully won't need them." Ichika whispered.

"Ichika? What's going on?"

"We're coming close to the only time of year that Tabane-nee makes a public appearance. There are often a large number of people that try to take me hostage to get to her. I was careless. Mädchen is meeting up with us soon, we need to go."

_Shit. If they do anything more than try to follow us, we're in trouble. My IS isn't good for combat in an area where there's a lot of people. Char and Mädchen's IS' are monitored by their governments along with the school and they need permission for deployment. Which we won't get here._

Laura walked next to Ichika and handed him the mirror. Looking out behind himself with it, he noticed that Dan was acting like he was picking up a pair of ladies with Rin and Cecilia.

"Mädchen, do you keep any weapons on you?"

Laura blinked at Ichika for a second.

"No, sir. It's hard to acquire such things in Japan. Should I keep one with me?"

"Please do. Here." Ichika handed her a knife that he had kept in his jacket, which was wrapped to look like a scroll.

_The bits on my IS are light enough for use outside of my IS, but I haven't practiced much with partial deployment before. I should remedy that next time I can train, partial deployment will be very useful._

They were walking to a larger group of people in the center of the mall. Ichika noticed out of the corner of his eye that Dan's group was leaving via one of the side exits.

Using his mirror, Ichika noticed that the men in black suits were still following them, but from a distance.

Once they entered the larger group of people and blended in, however, Ichika could hear gunshots.

"Alright everyone, out of our way and we won't shoot you!"

The large group of people all started screaming and began filing out through the sides to the side exits. Ichika's phone beeped.

_**From: Chifuyu-nee**_

_**I'm giving you full deployment permission. Your priorities are to ensure of the safety of the civilians and the exits. I'll be watching.**_

Ichika blinked.

"Mädchen! Char! We've been granted full deployment permission by the instructor. On my signal, deploy and open a three-way comm link!"

Laura and Charlotte acknowledged him.

Ichika deployed a smoker and covered the crowd in smoke, which triggered the fire alarms.

"Char! RU-5! Prioritize children and the elderly!"

"Right!"

Charlotte flew off, and began helping people to the right exit.

"Mädchen! Keep the men with guns away from the civilians! Use your wires when needed!"

"Yes, sir!"

Laura flew back to the central hall and activated her AIC, carefully blocking all of the gunshots. She used her wires to drag the men on the higher floors back down to the first floor.

Ichika flew to the left to help people there to safety.

_This is my fault. The least I can do is get these people out of here._

Some of the children on that side were looking at him in wide-eyed awe, especially the boys.

"Look Mama! A boy piloting an IS! I thought that didn't happen!" A small boy called.

The boy's mother smiled at him.

"That, my dear, is Ichika Orimura. He's the only boy in the world who can pilot an IS."

Ichika smiled at them.

"Now, my friends are helping evacuate some of the other people here. Could you please leave the building from the side exit over there?" He asked politely.

The woman nodded and grabbed her son, then ran off to the exit.

Evacuation went surprisingly smoothly, and nobody was injured too badly. A couple of sprained ankles from the older and younger people, but Ichika or Charlotte just carried them to the exit. Once everyone was out, Ichika called into the comm link,

"Mädchen, we're done! Restrain the enemy!"

"Yes, sir!"

Laura deployed her wires.

The wires wrapped around the men in suits, piling them up in restrained heaps. The men shared a look of horror before screaming and struggling to get out their restraints.

"She's coming! Let us go! She's coming!"

Laura glared at them.

"Who's-" She began.

All of the lights in the building went out. The power lines had been cut.

A massive crash resounded through the glass roof as a large shape fell to the ground.

Before them was a woman with long red hair. She had cruel gold eyes and a well-developed figure. She was piloting a large red IS that had eight dark orange legs and a pair of bright yellow arms.

Mounted up each leg was a series of a half-dozen tubes and on the end of each arm was a claw. The wings were much larger than normal and six large cannons were built in to each wing.

**IS not in database detected.**

**Proceed with scan?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

"Aaahh, the Orimura-boy. And look! A Kraut and a Frog. No wonder my men were taken out so easily..."

**Scan complete.**

_Great Arachne is its name? Half of those tubes shoot some sort of sticky, immobilizing fluid and the other half shoot flames. The fluid hardens when undergoing extreme temperature changes and is stored at room temperature. Those hands are pairs of Shield Piercers as pincers._

_The cannons on the wings are actually impact cannons that are slower but pack an even bigger punch... This will be tricky..._

**Save IS to database?**

**Y/N**

_Yes..._

"Mädchen! Char! We're leaving! Our primary objective is complete!"

"Oooh nooo, I think you're fighting, Orimura-boy. After all, you do want to know something about five years ago, riiiight?"

"Ichika, what is she-"

Ichika materialized and activated Yukihira and his shield of bits.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?"

"Weell, I wasn't directly involved, but our group did it..."

"Who are you people?" Laura asked.

"We are the Ruined Country Weaving Industry- Phantom Task, and you. Are in. The way."

_Unforgivable._

_They took her away._

_Unforgivable._

_They took them away._

_Unforgivable._

_I can't even remember what they took._

_Unforgivable._

_But I know it was important._

_Unforgivableunforgivableunvf orgivable..._

"UNFORGIVABLE!"

Ichika flew up and then, like a hawk, tried to swoop down on his prey.

Charlotte withdrew her favorite pair of SMGs and Laura began charging her Rail Gun, firing at the Great Arachne.

The Great Arachne fired all of its Impact Cannons at Ichika simultaneously. Before he could dodge, the Great Arachne raised its right arm and attacked Ichika. The shock from the blow caused him to pass out, and this made all of the shots hit. This covered him in minor burns and scratches as they pierced his absolute barrier, activated from his lack of consciousness.

"Target secured. Mission complete. Withdrawing." The Great Arachne's pilot stated into her comm link.

A few shots from the sky were the only warning she got before a pair of missiles came flying down on her. Cecilia was blocking the roof of the mall.

Not willing to waste this chance, Laura released her wires, managing to grab and drag away Ichika.

Before the pilot of the Great Arachne could turn to go after Laura, Rin ran up and whacked her legs with her two scimitars, hacking away. The Great Arachne's pilot just laughed and fired some of the fluid from one leg, covering Rin from head-to-toe with sticky, white goo.

"This is gross!" Rin complained.

The Great Arachne activated three of its flamethrowers, which heated the fluid on Rin's body and caused it to harden, immobilizing her.

A loud, electronically-disguised voice echoed from seemingly nowhere.

"Autumn! What's taking so long? You said you secured the target."

Autumn swore under her breath.

"I did! Then these girlies started playing with me and managed to get him back! I'll take care of it in a minute, just wait a bit."

There was a pause.

"Autumn, pull back. I have secured the secondary target."

"M, shut the hell up. The grown-ups are playing right now."

"Autumn, Squall gave me full authority for this mission. Are you going to go against Squall's orders?"

Autumn screamed in frustration.

"FINE! I'm withdrawing for now!"

Autumn barreled upwards, flying straight to Cecilia, who tried to go after her, but was sprayed by the liquid and a flamethrower, forcing Cecilia to land on the roof.

Chifuyu immediately entered the center of the mall, a panicked-looking Yamada in tow. Chifuyu scooped up Ichika's and Charlotte's bags and took charge of the situation.

"We have three minutes to leave here before police and reporters swarm the place. I'll take Ichika away from here. Dunois, Bodewig, take Huang and Alcott with you and fly back to the Academy. I'll take my brother to the school infirmary."

Laura handed Ichika to Chifuyu, then picked up Cecilia and flew off. Charlotte stared at Chifuyu blankly.

"What are you waiting for? Go!"

"Will Ichika be okay?"

Chifuyu sighed.

"Yes, he will. Now get going!"

Charlotte grabbed Rin and flew back to the Academy.

Chifuyu sighed.

"Come, Yamada-kun. We need to take my brother home."

Yamada, who had been spacing out and looking around at the wreckage in the mall, yelped.

"C-Coming, Orimura-sensei!"

XXXXXXXX

Two hours later

IS Academy Dorms, Ichika and Charlotte's room

"What happened?" Ichika asked, slowly regaining consciousness.

"Ichika!" Charlotte cried.

She grabbed his hand.

"I was worried!"

Ichika brought his other hand up and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. He beamed at her.

"Hi. What did I miss?"

Chifuyu coughed. Charlotte jumped back and Ichika turned the other way, blushing.

"You missed a rather impressive demonstration of good judgement on Bodewig, Dunois and Alcott's parts, followed by an excellent demonstration of bad judgement on Huang's part and another one on Alcott's part." Chifuyu explained.

"Ah. Did Rin-san try and fight that thing in CQC? By attacking the legs?"

Chifuyu looked at him, clearly impressed.

"You got a read on it with True Sight?"

"It's the first thing I do when I'm deployed and see an IS that isn't already in the database. Those legs can shoot a type of sticky fluid that hardens when exposed to extreme temperatures."

"Ichika. I must say, that while your performance during the actual combat scenario was... less than stellar, the evacuation of the civilians, which you agreed was your priority, was a success and there were no major civilian injuries or casualties during that encounter. The press wants to talk to you, and that isn't happening until after we back from the seaside academy, whether you want it to go that way or not."

"Yes, Chifuyu-nee."

Chifuyu looked at Ichika and then Charlotte.

"I'll leave you two alone now. Try not to make me an aunt..." Chifuyu waved on her way out.

Ichika and Charlotte started blushing.

"So..." Ichika began,

"Want to show me your swimsuit?"

"Ichika, you pervert..."

XXXXXXXX

AN: Aaaand, there you have it! I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Yes, this is divided into parts. Part 1 will be ending at chapter 12 and, as I intend to update every Wednesday for the rest of the month, should be ended by the start of October. The next chapter will be called "Divergence", the one after it is called "Setsura", and the final chapter in Part 1 is called "Phantom Task". I'll let you all guess about what happens next however much you want. Until next week. Also, Part 2 starts after a 1 week break. The first chapter will be longer than usual, though.


	11. Chapter 10: Divergence

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means Ichika's thoughts

**Part 1, Chapter 10: Divergence**

XXXXXXXX

Monday, 11:00

IS Academy Seaside School

As most of the freshmen were happily running to the water, they vaguely heard Yamada call,

"It's eleven right now! Make sure to come back to the hotel in time for dinner at sundown!"

Everyone shouted affirmatives and they ran to the water, towels, picnic baskets.

With three exceptions.

Ichika was leaning against the wall at the back of the beach, unmoving. His entire body was wrapped in towels. He couldn't see a thing and didn't really care.

"Come on Ichika, it's not that bad." Charlotte scolded.

"Yes, commander. This mission was given to us by the instructor. We must not fail!"

_Oh yes, this is terrible. Sorry, Mädchen. Mission failed. How the hell did I make it through the mall?_

_Right. Adrenaline. Char being there to hold my hand through it probably helped, too..._

_Honestly, it was probably that._

"Yes, it is. This was a terrible idea. I'm going to the hotel. No... they'll have those thin traditional walls... Char, what am I supposed to do? No matter where I go, I'm going to be surrounded by people..."

"Ichikaaaa..."

"What?"

"Don't you want to see my swimsuit?"

"..."

_She knows how much I want to see it... she can make it so that I can never see her in a swimsuit for the rest of my lifetime if I don't come out now..._

"Coming."

Ichika unwrapped himself from the towels. Charlotte was wearing a yellow bikini top connected by two pieces of black fabric to a tiger-patterned skirt. Laura was wearing a black one-piece. Ichika was wearing a dark blue pair of board shorts.

"Char, do you have your sunblock?"

"I had Laura put it on."

Ichika turned to Laura, who had straightened into a salute.

"Well done, Mädchen. You are dismissed."

"Sir!"

After Laura ran, or really walked quickly off because of the sand, Ichika looked over to Charlotte incredulously.

"I can't believe you don't mind her."

Charlotte shrugged.

"I think she's rather cute."

Ichika rolled his eyes.

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Go in the water with me?"

_No._

"Maybe..."

Charlotte looked at him, wide-eyed. Her eyes were almost beginning to water. Ichika flinched then sighed.

"Alright, let's go in the water."

"Thank you."

Charlotte wrapped her hands around his arm and they walked to the water. Ichika had to take deep breaths, as he was noticing the large amount of almost predatory stares he was receiving. Following that, he noticed the jealous glares that Charlotte was receiving from the other girls, and knew that the fact he and Charlotte were dating wasn't going to be hidden for much longer.

"I told you that you're plenty muscular."

Ichika sputtered.

"Sorry for not having any confidence in my own appearance. I didn't think I'd ever care until I met you."

_That was so stupid._

Charlotte smiled radiantly.

"That's so sweet." She settled her head on his shoulder.

_Huh. This is nice._

XXXXXXXX

...After a wonderful time that somehow got turned into a game of beach volleyball which my team lost, we returned to the hotel. I was relieved to discover that because Asamiya-san and Chitsugu-baa had not been allowed to come along, I was rooming with Chifuyu-nee. So, despite officially being taken now, one of the scariest people to wake up early with was staying in the same room as me, though she is scary in general.

I still remember that time that I had a sleepover with Dan and we woke her up from her sleep. That was horrible. She's probably going to drink tonight, which makes it worse.

I think I really care about Char. I never thought that could happen to me. Never thought anyone else would be able to put up with me. It's strange. It was so funny when she ate the whole lump of wasabi all at once. I failed to conceal my amusement, and she pouted at me in that adorable way she does...

Ichika stashed his diary back in his bag.

_No need to hide it, Chifuyu-nee already knows about everything that I write in there, anyway._

"Ichika!" Chifuyu snapped him from his thoughts.

Ichika turned to see his sister laying on her stomach on top of a futon.

_Of course. We might be with the school, but it's a vacation, after all._

"Right, coming."

As Ichika began massaging his sister, conversing about the current state of tension in various muscles in her body, progressively more suggestive phrases came out of her mouth. Ichika very quickly caught on to the fact that most, if not all, of the girls were on the other side of the door. He decided to play along, musing to himself about their reactions.

_Char is trying hard not to laugh. Cecilia-san is probably forming a rant about how improper this kind of relationship between siblings is. Rin-san either gets it or is fighting off a nosebleed. Houki-san is livid. Mädchen probably thinks it is something dirty and wouldn't think it anything else, but isn't saying anything because Charlotte's there and she doesn't want to be rude._

Eventually, the poor door couldn't take it anymore and with a combined yelp, all five girls fell into the room. At this point, Chifuyu waved her hand at Ichika to dismiss him and stood, moving to the chairs in the back of their room.

"Now. What did you five think we were doing?" Chifuyu asked playfully.

_Oooh, she wants to go this way..._

Charlotte raised her hand. As did Rin.

"We knew what was really going on."

Chifuyu nodded.

"Of course the two of you would."

Cecilia and Houki shot Charlotte and Rin a pair of betrayed glares. Charlotte fidgeted with her fingers while looking at Ichika and Rin just let out a 'humph' and turned the other way. Laura didn't seem to care.

"Now... would the students of mine with dirty imaginations stay behind? Ichika, Dunois, Huang, you three can leave. Get me some beer and come back in thirty minutes. I want it cold."

_She's probably thinking that she's too sober for this._

Ichika nodded at Charlotte and they left, arm-in-arm. Rin followed, only looking slightly put-out.

Chifuyu leveled a death glare at Houki and Cecilia.

"Laura, I've had you stay because I want you to enforce the ground rules that I'm about to lay." Cecilia and Houki started at this shift in attitude. The fact that their first names were being used meant that this was a conversation as Ichika's sister, not their teacher.

In other words, five to ten times as terrifying.

"Ichika is taken. He's happy, and that hasn't happened in more years than I'd like to admit."

Cecilia nodded. Houki looked livid.

"Chifuyu-san!" Houki cried.

"What?"

"How can you do this to me?"

Cecilia and Laura looked to Houki like she was insane.

"I knew him first! I've made the most memories with him! I... I remember that girl! I-" Chifuyu slapped Houki.

"We are never speaking of her again. She's _gone_, Houki. And if she isn't, I don't want to know what she's become. Now, as for the ground rules:"

Chifuyu took a deep breath. Houki skulked as Chifuyu did so.

"First, You are going to tell that intolerable council president of yours to stop messing with my brother. Any operation she tries to run, you interfere with or prevent. My brother lives in a room with bodyguards, so I suppose I don't need to tell you not to try to sneak into his room, but just in case: don't. You will _not_ approach my brother in an attempt to gain a massage, or cook for you. Not like he'd do it anyway. You'll leave him alone when he's trying to eat."

Houki and Cecilia looked at each other.

"H-How is this any different from before, Chifuyu-san?"

"Because now I've told you to do it, so I can get angry at you if you don't. And punish you properly. As his sister, I have some rather... enjoyable... punishments planned, and you girlies would be perfect to test them on..." As Chifuyu said this, she moved her hand up and wiggled her fingers in a suggestive motion.

_**Meanwhile, in the halls**_

About ten seconds after Ichika, Charlotte and Rin were out hearing range of Chifuyu's room, Rin looked at them, eyes narrowed mischievously.

"Soo... when did Ichika give _you_ a massage?"

Ichika blushed. Charlotte glared at Rin.

"He hasn't. I just guessed. It's not fair, and I will make sure that he rectifies that. How about you?"

"The third time Dan and I hung out at his place, Chifuyu held Dan and I down and told us that Ichika was giving us massages. Ichika and Dan don't talk about it anymore."

_That's because neither of us wanted to admit that Dan liked it more than you did._

Charlotte laughed a high, clear note.

"What else did she make him do?"

Ichika stepped in before Rin talked about anything else he didn't want mentioned.

"There was on time the two of them came over and had me cook. Well, there were really several. Or the time that I went over to Dan's, and then Rin's house, and somehow their parents decided that they needed help cleaning the house."

"He'd hum along to some music in his head and wear an apron and put his hair up."

_Oh no. This is worse than baby pictures._

Charlotte looked Ichika up and down.

"I want to see that..." Charlotte said, her expression almost predatory.

Rin looked at Charlotte and rolled her eyes before grinning widely and mischievously.

"_Everyone _does. I have pictures at home."

_Please end this conversation. Or at least let me go so that I can pretend it never happened._

As Charlotte was happily conversing with Rin, the grip around Ichika's arm was continuously tightening, preventing any hope of escape.

"I don't think anybody here has seen any baby pictures, though."

_I think that Chifuyu-nee hides them all away in a treasure chest somewhere._

"That's because Chifuyu-nee got rid of all the ones with our parents and there aren't a whole lot of ones that were from when we were little. She just tells stories to anyone who listens instead. And no, I don't know where she's hiding the others."

_You'll probably hear a few stories tonight if she keeps anyone around for very long after she starts drinking._

Charlotte had an evil look on her face.

"Ohhh... and how do we go about convincing her to tell those stories?"

Ichika clamped his mouth shut, refusing to discuss a subject that could cause his doom. He was just glad that some stories and pictures Chifuyu had promised would be sealed away until his wedding- as he had no problem never marrying, he knew he was safe.

Charlotte removed her right hand from his arm and gently guided his face to her.

"Ichika... when does Orimura-sensei tell the baby stories?"

_No... I... won't... tell..._

"Ichikaaaa..." Charlotte widened her eyes slightly, pleading silently.

_Too... cute... can't... resist..._

"When she's drunk."

Rin and Charlotte each shared an evil, conspiratory look.

_Oh no... This is going to be horrible..._

XXXXXXXX

July 7, after breakfast

_I am so glad that they got Chifuyu-nee drunk too quickly for any stories to be told. I'm safe now._

As Ichika was walking through one of the external halls by the outdoor gardens, he saw Houki kneeling on the side.

On closer inspection, he noticed a pair of robotic ears and a sign that said,

**Please pull them out~!**

He smiled to himself and stood behind Houki.

"Aren't you going to pull them out?"

Houki looked at Ichika, then stood up and said 'humph'.

"It doesn't concern me."

_Aaand, that's bullshit._

Houki strode off, stepping a bit harder than necessary.

_Probably should pull them out..._

Ichika walked over and pulled with all his strength, which was necessary for them to be removed. A massive carrot landed before him a few seconds later, and when the carrot split down the center, a woman was standing there, wearing a long blue and white dress and a pair of robotic bunny ears like those that were in the ground.

Ichika grinned.

"How's it been, Tabane-nee?"

Tabane cheered.

"It's been great, Ikkun! I hope everything I've been sending helped?"

"Of course it has, Tabane-nee."

Tabane jumped in the air.

"Yaay! Now, where is Houki-chan?

Ichika pointed to the left.

"I think she went that way."

Tabane looked over and sniffed.

"Correct, Ikkun! It smells like she's that way, too!" Tabane ran off. Ichika stood up and straightened in mock salute.

_God speed, Houki-san._

XXXXXXXX

About ten minutes later

A bluff by the hotel

Ichika, Rin, Houki, Charlotte, Laura and Cecilia were all gathered in a line standing across from Chifuyu, dressed in their piloting uniforms.

"Right, everyone with a personal machine is here now."

"Wait a minute. Houki doesn't have a personal machine, right?" Rin asked.

"I shall explain." Chifuyu walked to stand by Houki.

"Recently," Chifuyu began.

"Yaaaahooooo!"

Chifuyu grimaced. Houki frowned. Ichika beamed. Laura moved the side to protect Charlotte.

_She's here now._

To the students' right was a smoke cloud, above which was Tabane with her arms spread wide apart. When she reached the end of the hill that she was on, she launched herself into the air, crying,

"Chiiiii-chaaaan!"

When Tabane got within arm's reach of Chifuyu, Chifuyu put her hand out and grabbed Tabane's face, aiding her in her landing and ending with Tabane crouched on the ground.

"Wait, wait, I wanted to see you, Chi-chan! Now, let's hug to show your love!"

Ichika was working very hard to restrain his laughter.

_This is a lot funnier when not on the receiving end._

"Shut up, Tabane." Chifuyu growled forcefully.

"Still the same relentless Iron Claw, I see."

Tabane ran over to Houki, who had hidden behind a pile of rocks.

"Yo! Houki-chan!"

"Hi..."

"Long time no see! How many years has it been?"

Tabane took an exaggerated thinking pose.

"You've grown a lot!"

She grabbed Houki's chest and felt around a bit. Ichika had turned his head away as soon as Tabane came close to Houki, but Charlotte covered his eyes anyway.

Tabane turned around.

"Ikkun! I didn't get to say it before! You _really_ grew! Wooow, look at those muscles! I can see that Kendo really, really agrees with you! How's the job been doing for you?"

"It's been going great, thanks Tabane-nee."

"It's been what, five years since we saw each other in person?"

_What?_

"No, it's been-" Ichika began, before Chifuyu hit Tabane on the head with her fist.

"At least introduce yourself before you start scaring them, Baka-Tabane."

Tabane turned to the main group and waved with both of her hands.

"I'm the genius girl Tabane-san~! Hello~!"

Ichika was grinning.

Rin, Cecilia, Laura and Charlotte looked flabbergasted.

"Tabane as in _that_ Tabane?" Rin asked.

"The Genius scientist who developed the IS?" Charlotte asked.

Tabane grinned and pointed to the sky.

"Now, behold the great sky!"

A large silver diamond landed before everyone.

"Ta-da~!" Tabane snapped her fingers. The diamond, in a flash of rainbows and stars, vanished.

In place of the diamond rested a violet and black IS. The legs and arms were heavily armored and would easily come up above the pilot's knees and elbows. There were a pair of insectoid wings attached to the back of the unit and a more normal pair of wings floating.

"This is Houki-chan's personal IS~! Superior in all aspects to almost every current IS, Akatsubaki is a 4th generation IS made by yours truly~!"

_Impressive. 4th? This is going to be fun._

"Almost?" Houki asked.

"Weeell, Ikkun used True Sight for more than I thought he would, and I had too much fun with Chacchan's IS. All three are about equal with different specialties, though~!"

_Wow. That is impressive. Leave it to Tabane-nee. Other countries doing IS research are just now putting out prototype 3rd generation IS'. She's probably about a decade ahead of of them. At least._

"Now, Houki-chan, let's adjust it for you!"

Houki nodded and stepped into the IS.

As Tabane entered in Houki's data, everyone besides Chifuyu and Ichika watched in awe.

"She's so fast..."

When the data had been entered, Tabane detached the cables and let Houki fly into the air.

Tabane allowed Houki to have a few minutes of getting used to the speed, then called,

"Try out the katanas! The one on your right is Amatsuki, and the one on your left is Karaware!"

Houki violently swung Amatsuki, causing it to fire a set of four red lasers, which converged on a single point. Tabane nodded and summoned a missile launcher and fired a dozen missiles. Houki swung Karaware violently and it released an energy wave which destroyed all of the missiles at once.

_Holy shit._

"Orimura-sensei! We have big trouble!" Yamada called. She was holding up a smartphone that had some diagrams on it while running to the group, out of breath.

"Look at this." Yamada handed the phone to Chifuyu.

Chifuyu's eyes widened, then narrow.

"Test operation cancelled. Return to headquarters immediately!"

XXXXXXXX

A few minutes later

Seaside Academy, Operations Headquarters

Ichika and the other personal IS holders were gathered around a holographic table with the mission details. The room that they were sitting in had computers all around the area, and there were operators on all of them.

"A couple of hours ago, a couple dozen IS' appeared off the coast of Hawaii. They have destroyed pretty much an entire American military base, and are now heading in this direction. Using satellite tracking, we have managed to locate them approximately fifty kilometers from our location. We have about three hours to deal with this situation. We have no information on their armaments, but that's unimportant."

Rin raised her hand.

"What do you mean, Orimura-sensei?"

"From our information, all of these IS' are unmanned and the same model. Orimura's IS can get a reading on the specs of any IS it sees, so it'll only take one scan."

Rin nodded.

"The teaching staff will be blockading the entire coast. The destruction of the targets will be left up to the students here who hold personal machines. We will now begin the strategy meeting."

XXXXXXXX

An hour later

Off the coast of Japan

Ichika, Charlotte and Houki were leading the formation, but maintaining a lower speed to prevent themselves from getting ahead of the pack. They were approaching the current known location of the horde, which finally came into a close enough view for Ichika to activate True Sight.

Every IS in the horde was identical. They all resembled the golem that attacked during the fight with Rin, but their arms were of a more normal length in relation to their body and legs. On each of their backs were a pair of white sticks and on their right shoulder was something that appeared to be a rocket launcher.

**IS not in database detected**

**Proceed with scan?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

Ichika held his right hand vertically up, palm extended, signaling his team to stop.

**Scan Complete**

Ichika opened up a comm link with operations headquarters and his team.

"This is Byakushiki, preparing to engage. Enemy units have equivalent thrust and acceleration to the Schwarzer Regen. They have two energy blades, six missiles and an extremely large number of high-powered lasers each. Five of the missiles are standard explosives." Ichika and his team spread out as they dodged or blocked an initial volley of missiles.

"Make that four explosive missiles each. This is Byakushiki, engaging."

Ichika had converted almost all of his bits to speed bits for the operation. Not knowing what to expect, he prepped four whips, eight swords connected to form a shield and Yukihira. All of the remaining twenty-four were speed bits, with the objective of destroying as many of the golems in one hit as possible. Ichika flew up into a circle of golems with Charlotte behind him.

"Wait, Byakushiki! What was the sixth missile?"

"Oh, yeah. An electric missile. Seems to give a light enough shock to somebody to confuse them slightly, but not heavy enough to actually impair functions in any significant way. Harmless. Not sure why they bothered to use space for them in the first place, but whatever."

Chifuyu paused for barely a heartbeat.

"SCHWARZER REGEN! GET BYAKUSHIKI OUT OF THAT SITUATION NOW!" Chifuyu screamed hysterically.

Laura didn't hesitate for a second and fired all four of her whips at Ichika in order to drag him away.

Ichika stopped dodging.

"Huh?" He asked.

Chifuyu's perception of time seemed to slow as one of the electric missiles hit Ichika. Then another. Then a third.

"ALL UNITS FALL BACK! OPERATION FAILURE!"

"Char!" Ichika screamed frantically.

"Where are you?" He continued.

Charlotte blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean, I'm right behind... you..."

To Charlotte's horror, Ichika's IS began falling like a rock, uncontrolled, to one of the islands below them.

_Am I falling? I can't tell. All of this technology and I still can't tell what direction I'm traveling with my eyes closed. Come on, Ichika! Open your eyes._

Half of the horde converged on Ichika, drawing their energy blades, and began attacking him. The other half focused their fire on Ichika's team.

_They're attacking you, idiot. Why aren't you moving?_

_Why can't you open your eyes?_

Once Ichika's shield energy depleted, they switched over to their lasers, which very quickly shattered his emergency shields and began to burn and somehow cut his skin heavily.

_Why does this pain feel so familiar? How about I just go to sleep..._

As soon as Ichika's eyes closed, he opened them again, as wide as they go.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

He began thrashing madly, trying to get the golems off of him, but his IS had already taken heavy damage. Laura, Rin, and Cecilia finally managed to hold the other golems off long enough for Houki to start attacking the half going after Ichika. Charlotte flew down and managed to take hold of Ichika's flailing body.

"It's okay, Ichika. I have you now."

Ichika whimpered.

"Nee-san... they took away Madoka... I failed to protect her... what are they going to do to her? Nee-san... help..."

He relaxed and stopped moving. His breathing was slow and uneven.

"All units, retreat!" Chifuyu barked.

The team nodded their understanding and withdrew at once. The golems, strangely, did not pursue once Charlotte was far enough away from them.

XXXXXXXX

An hour later

Seaside Academy Infirmary

Ichika was laying in a sick bed, unconscious and covered in bandages.

Charlotte was holding his right hand in her lap, trying hard not to cry. Houki was in the corner of the room, eyes hidden by her hair and head's angle, arms crossed. Laura was standing outside of the open door. Cecilia was standing, hands on her hips, rattling off a list of things they could try to make him feel better. Rin was curled up in a ball in the corner opposite of Houki. As soon as Chifuyu walked into the room, an anguished expression on her face, Rin ran over to her and took the front of Chifuyu's shirt in her hands.

"What the _hell_ was that, Chifuyu-san? Why did he just fall like that from an 'insignificant' amount of electricity?"

The other girls in the room besides Charlotte looked to Chifuyu with varying levels of accusation in their eyes. Charlotte gave Chifuyu a betrayed look that was magnified by her red, puffy eyes.

"Ichika is blind."

As Houki, Cecilia, Rin and Laura all began screaming various levels of obscenities, Charlotte whispered one word that somehow had more force than what all of the other girls had said combined.

"Explain."

Chifuyu sighed.

"I'm not going to tell you all much. Dunois could probably get him to tell her if he wakes up, and Bodewig already knows the whole story." Chifuyu paused, during which time the girls looked over to Laura. Laura had an innocent, noncommittal look on her face- after all, that incident was Classified Information and the Commander wasn't even supposed to know that she knew about it. As Chifuyu resumed, the girls looked back at her.

"Five years ago, Ichika was kidnapped. We know exactly who did it and why, but I'm not allowed to tell you. The only living person that isn't a wanted fugitive who knows exactly what happened there is Ichika, and he doesn't remember much. He was beaten horribly, and had to stay in the hospital for a month. The only permanent damage was that both of his eyes had been completely destroyed."

There was a collective gasp in the room.

"The day after he had been hospitalized, Tabane approached me. She told me that if I wanted her to, she could find a way to make him see again. I... I didn't want to leave the hospital until my brother could see my face. I refused to. So, in a month, Tabane managed to invent for my brother a new pair of eyes that partially powered themselves and were partially powered by the human body."

Chifuyu paused for breath as the girls looked at her. They had known that Tabane was a genius, but to be able to recreate fully-functioning eyes that worked so well that their owner never even noticed that his eyes weren't real...

"The eyes worked perfectly, and now that he will actually remember them, he'll probably be able to have all sorts of attachments put on them. Their weakness, however, was that any external electricity besides that which exists in the human body, or any EMP-based attack, would cause them to shut down. There is only one person who knows how to fix them, so there's only one thing I can do."

Chifuyu reached into one of her pockets and took out a cell phone, which Charlotte recognized as Ichika's.

"Call Tabane-nee."

"Hii, Ikkun! How did that horde go?"

"Tabane. They had electric missiles." Chifuyu flatly stated.

"...I'll be there in fifteen minutes at most."

Tabane hung up. Chifuyu glared at the girls.

"Now is not the time for grief! Now is the time to believe that he will heal! All of you are on standby. Don't leave the grounds." Chifuyu commanded.

The girls shared a conspiratory glance as Chifuyu left.

XXXXXXXX

Forty-five minutes later

Over the Pacific Ocean

Of course the girls would try again. Houki was on point, along with Laura. The others were behind them in a tightly-packed formation.

Newly in the enemy formation was a unit with a human pilot. This unit was magenta and black and had six bits that resembled Cecilia's rotating around it. Along its legs and wings were another six bits that looked like shields. Its wings were about the size of the body, and had large thrusters on the back of each. On the bottom of each of the two feet were a pair of thrusters. The pilot had short, spiky black hair, but she was wearing a white helmet that covered her entire upper face.

"That's!" Cecilia cried, shocked.

"What is it, Cecilia?" Houki asked.

"That's the Silent Zephyrs! It's a more advanced version of my Blue Tears! How did they get it?"

The Silent Zephyrs' pilot crossed her arms.

"I will not engage unless the target comes. I am here to observe. Attack me and perish."

Houki blinked when she realized who the pilot was. This was surprising. Houki didn't expect _her_ to lead the assault.

For the second try, Houki and Laura were at point to shield their allies. The abilities of their targets were already known, so there was no need to continue with a scouting mission.

Houki began the operation by activating Karaware, which damaged many of the golems at once. The golems spread out and began firing at the team. Laura moved up next to Houki, who switched the fold-out armor on her IS to defense and the two of them shielded the team while closing the distance between them and their targets.

Once the golems stopped firing, Charlotte, Cecilia and Rin popped out from behind their companions. Charlotte took out the rocket launcher on full auto, Cecilia used her Blue Pierce sniper rifle to shoot them, and Rin used her Dragon Cannon. In response, the golems fired another wave of missiles. Houki used Karaware and Charlotte used a pair of SMGs to take out the missiles. The golems then resumed fire while moving back, so Houki and Laura resumed shielding.

XXXXXXXX

Sometime

Someplace

As Ichika opened his eyes, he realized that he had absolutely no idea where the hell he was.

The second thing that he realized was that he could actually see. Despite being electrocuted. That thought made much more sense after a few seconds of thinking about it.

_So, I remember now. No wonder I kept a diary, it was worse than I thought. I think I'll still keep it, I can't even trust my memories._

Around, stretching to infinity, was a world that, no matter what direction he looked, was clouds and a blue sky. The surface he was standing on was reflective, though there were trees and rocks on it anyway. Shortly after, the world reformed to become a beach at sunset.

Standing before him was a woman in an IS, which he realized was the White Knight. The White Knight was the first IS in the world, which fended off over 1000 missiles using little more than a sword. Ichika was pretty sure that Chifuyu was the White Knight's pilot, but never considered it important enough to ask about. Holding hands with that woman was a small boy who looked to about five years old.

"Do you desire power?" The woman and boy asked together.

"..."

"Do you desire power?" They asked again.

"..."

"Do you desire power, Ichika Orimura?"

"Yes."

"For what reason?"

"I wish to protect those dear to me. I wish to destroy my enemies."

"To protect... and destroy... how? Why?"

"Well... in this world, there's a lot of evil. Too much. And so, I don't want to fail again. I don't want to let anyone be evil. So, I'm going to destroy them."

"Who do you want to destroy?"

Ichika took a deep breath.

"The people who took her away from me. The people who took me. I wish to drag the phantoms of the past back to the world of the dead!"

"What about you?"

Ichika blinked.

"What about me?"

"Will doing this make you happy?"

Ichika thought for a moment.

_Do I even deserve it? I'm a Bad Boy._

_Bad Boys don't deserve to be happy._

_Bad Boys get left all alone._

_Bad Boys don't deserve to be loved._

_No, that doesn't make a difference. There is simply Duty. And destroying _them_ is _my_ Duty._

"I don't know. But it is what I must do."

The world changed back to the infinite reflections

Behind him was a girl wearing a white sundress and large white hat holding hands with a small, black-haired girl.

_Madoka... I'm sorry..._

"Then, you have to go, right?" They said.

The older girl took Ichika's right hand, the younger his left.

"See?"

Ichika awakened from his slumber. His body was a little stiff, but he did a couple of stretches, which fixed the problem.

Ichika got up and went to the command room. As he burst in, all eyes were on him.

"What's the situation?"

"Orimura-kun... your eyes..." Yamada whispered, almost in awe.

"Your friends ignored orders and engaged the enemy. There is currently an extra target, who seems not to be engaging. This IS has a pilot, though we don't know who it is."

As the view of the Silent Zephyrs zoomed, Ichika's eyes widened and his mouth opened for a split-second before his face returned to neutrality. Ichika turned to Chifuyu.

"Permission to engage?"

Chifuyu rolled her eyes.

"Granted. They're getting their asses handed to them, take care of the problem."

Ichika ran out of the building and they heard him flying off shortly after.

XXXXXXXX

Five minutes later

Over the pacific coast

The operation was not going as planned. Their foes were too numerous, their forces too few. The team was tiring more quickly than expected, and so far had only managed to take out two of the golems. Every time they destroyed one, they had to use a new method- because now the old method didn't work anymore.

Rin was the first to fall. The golems weren't killing, not yet, so she was only out of shield energy, but that was out of the battle as far as the golems and anyone else were concerned.

Following Rin, Cecilia was next. Cecilia got too reckless and they punished her for it. She hadn't even gotten to use her bits yet.

The most recent to fall was Laura. She couldn't keep up with that many lasers any more, and AIC wasn't blocking as many as she thought.

Luckily, they had all crashed on small islands. Unluckily, they were all unconscious, so it wasn't going to be as easy to bring them back as Charlotte had hoped.

Charlotte and Houki had been forced to split up. Charlotte had been dodging and firing for a while, but she had only just barely managed to take out one more, and Houki managed to destroy another one shortly after. Only sixteen left.

That thought was just enough of a distraction for her to be hit by many lasers, which didn't deplete her shield energy but did begin to knock her back. After a short distance, though, she felt something breaking her fall.

"Hey there, Char. Missed me?" A very, very familiar voice asked.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Well, I think I can safely say that this is probably the most ridiculous cliffhanger that I've done yet. It was fun to write, though. A fair warning- if you don't like this chapter or the next one, you probably aren't going to like most of the rest of this fanfic


	12. Chapter 11: Setsura

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means Ichika's thoughts

**Part 1, Chapter 11: Setsura**

XXXXXXXX

July 7th, 7:30 P.M.

Above the Pacific Ocean

Ichika knew that he needed to get to their location as soon as he could manage. Fortunately, his IS agreed with him.

As he was arriving, he could only watch in horror as Charlotte began flying away from the impact caused by many lasers converging upon her at once. So, in a desperate attempt, he activated Ignition Boost.

_I'm not going to regret this, right?_

As he caught Charlotte in his arms, he said in a whimsical tone,

"Hey there, Char. Missed me?"

_Nope, definitely not. Just the look on her face is worth it._

"Ichika... your IS... second shift?"

Ichika's IS' appearance had changed significantly. The armor on both his legs and arms was now much heavier, and it covered all of the limbs. He also had additional armor protecting his lower torso and shoulders. Located behind his ears were a trio of visors that increased his senses and added processing power. His wings were now easily the size of the main body on his IS, and he had objects that looked like permanently attached speed bits on his wings and back. Built into the wings were a pair of energy generators, which produced enough energy to fully power all of his energy-based weaponry besides Yukihira, whose energy-draining always had seemed to him as more of a disadvantage to the ability rather than because of the amount of power it used.

Newly added was a solid-state shield called 'Hyouzan' (iceberg) that he could materialize for use. It takes an entire hand to hold it, though, so he couldn't quite use it the way he wanted.

Ichika could no longer use the Barrier Nullifying Attack on his bits any more, either, but they were far, far more flexible now. The visors on the back of his head allowed for up to three separate groups of bits to act independently of the others under a semi-advanced AI that reacts to Ichika's preference and gets smarter with each use. Rather than having to reprogram the AIs on the spot, Ichika had a series of preset tactics for use and could assign bits to groups with a single thought. However, installing an AI took up a bus slot for every six bits. Another new feature for the bits was that he no longer needed to have separate bits for every use- they could now store up to five weapons or functions and switch between them when needed. Currently, each bit had a katana setting, a whip setting, a smoker setting, and a plasma rifle setting installed. Variable bits cost him another bus slot for every six bits. Because the bits were now considered a part of the IS, rather than a result gained from his true sight, Byakushiki's weapon list now had the bits named as 'Hyouchuu' (icicle). Like any other system on his IS, Ichika can customize the functions and AI settings whenever he materializes his IS.

The Hyouchuu themselves were now white and cylindrical, with a pyramid on the bottom and blue stripes evenly spaced across the device. They were now stored on his upper legs, which have six slots for them on both legs.

At the moment, Ichika was using all twenty-one of his bus slots. Ten of them went to the Hyouchuu, and the remainder were spent on his two main weapons. Yukihira remained the same.

Also new was an energy-based gun named Fubuki (Snowstorm). Fubuki takes half of his bus slots, rounded up. However, by installing various modifications onto Fubuki, up to the number of bus slots it uses, he may alter its effects. The fewer alterations, however, the more powerful it is.

At that moment, Fubuki had three modifications installed: Automatic Fire, Splitting Shots, and Increased Range. Like any other bus slots, Ichika can change what modifications are attached to Fubuki whenever he deploys his IS. Fubuki is designed for him to use one-handed, and his IS corrects his shots for him so that he doesn't have to spend time calculating for the humidity in the air and weather.

The current modifications meant that Fubuki fires about three times a second with eight different lasers from each shot that can travel roughly a kilometer before losing intensity. Each individual one of those lasers don't hit hard, but there are enough of them to make up for that.

_Come, Byakushiki Setsura! Cry out, and show the world your power!_

Ichika scanned the battlefield around him, and locked his vision onto the Silent Zephyrs.

**IS and Pilot not in database detected.**

**Proceed with scan?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

Ichika allowed Charlotte to float behind him.

He summoned one of the Hyouchuu in his left hand and Yukihira in his right. He activated Yukihira and used the whip setting on the Hyouchuu to drag a golem back to him. Using Yukihira, he bisected the golem and deactivated Yukihira.

_Fifteen left._

Some of the golems lined up in front of the Silent Zephyrs.

**Scan complete.**

_Silent Zephyrs is an interesting IS, indeed..._

_Oh..._

Ichika's face hardened instantly.

"Char, if I leave half of my Hyouchuu behind running on an AI and use Yukihira to cut through any golem that gets in my way, do you think that you and Houki-san could take care of any that are left?"

"I think so, but why do you need-"

"Thanks, Char. I'll tell you about it after this is over."

Ichika materialized Hyouzan and put it in front of him, then began flying straight to the golems. Using Yukihira and six Hyouchuu on the sword setting, he easily cut through ten of the twelve golems that were in his way. Directing the the Hyouchuu to one of the two remaining golems, he cut through the torso the other golem while spinning counterclockwise. He saw his Hyouchuu successfully destroy the other golem before reattaching to his legs as his spin ended. He blocked three shots from Silent Zephyrs before he dematerialized Hyouzan. As soon as Hyouzan was gone, he materialized Fubuki in his left hand and shot twice.

"Madoka! Why?" He screamed.

"Because, Ichika-niichan. I just can't forgive Chifuyu-neesama."

_Madoka..._

"Why do you work with them?"

"Because they wanted me."

"They betrayed us, Madoka! We trusted them, and they betrayed us!"

"I came with them because I missed them, despite your and Chifuyu-neesama's attempts to turn me against them. They took me because I was a Good Girl. If Chifuyu-neesama didn't raise you to be so _loving_ of her, then maybe they could have taken both of us. Besides, _you're_ the one who is associating with one of the people responsible for this situation, you have _no _right to lecture me about being with _our parents_!" Madoka screamed.

"Madoka, they just up and left one day! No warning, no note, nothing! How are we supposed to just forgive that?"

"And how are you supposed to forgive Tabane-nee for being deceived by them? How are we going to forgive her for your eyes?"

"That's different!"

Madoka laughed. It started off slow and quiet, but slowly crescendoed and increased in speed. By the time she was done, it sounded positively unhinged.

"Niichan, I think it's time that you showed me which one of us is stronger."

"Madoka-"

Ichika's continued attempt to talk to Madoka was interrupted by six separate lasers flying at him from various angles.

He dodged backwards and up, but was surprised when he suddenly stopped moving due to one of her shield bits blocking his motion. He quickly activated Yukihira, turning around to bisect the shield bit while firing Fubuki in full auto. The shield bit that he had turned around to bisect was gone, so his posture was thrown off and Madoka used this to shoot at him again.

Thinking quickly, Ichika dematerialized Yukihira and used Hyouzan to block most of Madoka's lasers before taking a quick look back to see how Charlotte, Houki and his other Hyouchuu were doing dealing with the golems.

They were handling the golems much more easily now that they had his Hyouchuu to pull them around and provide fire support. Ichika watched as they destroyed one of the two remaining golems..

Madoka used this short distraction to shoot his right leg.

_Damn it._

Ichika fired at Madoka six times, but she had already brought up her shield bits and blocked all of the shots with practiced ease. However, this did block her vision, so when Ichika came flying at her with Yukihira in his right hand, she hesitated slightly.

This hesitation caused her to be hit by six separate lasers from Ichika's Hyouchuu, and she only narrowly managed to block Yukihira with one of her shields. Ichika easily shredded the shield bit that Madoka used to block his sword, but she used this opportunity to fly around behind him and shoot him.

"Ichika! Hold on!" Charlotte called.

_Excellent, I can call back the other Hyouchuu now..._

Ichika set the AI for the Hyouchuu that he had sent to help Charlotte and Houki to return to him. Following this, he dematerialized Yukihira, materialized Hyouzan and curled up behind it while telling his Hyouchuu to shoot Madoka. By their positioning, Charlotte and Houki were about to flank Madoka and help him.

Houki turned to the side and used Amatsuki to shoot at Charlotte, then used Karaware to slash her a couple of times. This damage was enough to deplete Charlotte's shields, causing her to begin to fall to the ocean.

"Char!" Ichika cried.

Ignoring his own defense, Ichika flew straight to Charlotte as fast as his IS would enable him to. Madoka made a few shots at him, but for the most part, he ignored them. Houki looked down at him with her eyes narrowed to slits before firing Amatsuki two more times at Charlotte, further injuring her.

"Hold off now, Houki-chan. We need to return to the base." Madoka commanded.

Houki, face now completely expressionless, nodded.

"Understood, Madoka."

Madoka beamed at Houki.

"You did very well. They'll probably name you a Season, when you're that good. Come now, we need to leave. This mission is complete."

Ichika, who was now holding a barely conscious Charlotte in his arms, cried,

"Why, Houki-san? Why are you doing this?"

Houki looked down at Ichika impassively.

"Because that _girl,_" Houki spat out the word "and Chifuyu-san are pushing you away from me, and that's unforgivable."

_Damn it, this is going to be my only chance..._

Ichika activated True Sight on Houki's IS while firing Fubuki at her in attempt to slow her down.

Houki stayed just long enough for Ichika to get a full reading before Madoka gestured to Houki.

"Come now, Houki-chan. Let's go." Madoka called. They left.

_I could chase them, but that would put everyone else in danger. I should just leave here now._

Ichika looked around and spotted Cecilia, Rin and Laura, who had fortunately all fallen onto islands.

Ichika wrapped four whip Hyouchuu around each of them, then set each group into an AI group and instructed them to carry his allies back to the operations headquarters.

_Today was downright shitty._

XXXXXXXX

One hour, fifteen minutes later

Seaside Academy, Operations Headquarters

Full medical teams awaited Ichika upon his return. The people at Operations Headquarters had been watching the entire event from cameras on Charlotte, Houki and Ichika's IS'. Sadly, the camera and observation availability on Houki's IS vanished shortly after Ichika had left for headquarters. They weren't even sure if Phantom Task's real base was in that direction or somewhere completely different and Houki and Madoka were just traveling a different direction to throw everyone off.

Fortunately, none of the injuries were too serious, and so they'd be ready to leave the infirmary by the next morning. Ichika felt relieved at that and went to Charlotte's room in the infirmary. He sat there in the corner, looking at her.

_You deserve to hear everything first._

Ichika wasn't sure how long he sat there or when she came in, but suddenly Chifuyu was standing next to him.

"I didn't want to mention it around anyone else, but when did you start to remember?" She asked him, voice barely above a whisper.

Ichika sighed and put his head in his hands.

"After I woke up from being unconscious due to the electricity and shock from being blind."

Chifuyu choked.

"I... see..."

Ichika looked up at Chifuyu, eyes wide and watering.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why? Why... Why did they do that to her? She was just a little girl! All she wanted to do was grow up to be a magical girl! Why did they need change her into... _that_?"

Chifuyu sighed.

"Because, Ichika, our parents thought that I wasn't strong enough. So, they wanted somebody stronger."

Ichika hit the back of his head on the wall and moaned.

"Go, Chifuyu-nee. Leave. I need to think about this."

Chifuyu nodded.

"Get some sleep."

_Now what am I going to do? I can't bring myself to trust Chifuyu-nee right now, I don't know what to do about Tabane-nee and Char's not going to be waking up until morning._

_Call Dan?_

_Eh, why not..._

Ichika dialed Dan's number on his phone.

"Gah... Ichika, I thought we agreed to never call each other at any time past nine."

"We did. However, I've had an incredibly shitty day today and everyone that I would want to talk to that's here is either asleep in the infirmary or somebody I'm not quite sure of my opinion on anymore. And I need somebody to talk to." Ichika replied sadly.

"And you don't trust your girlfriend enough to talk about it?"

"Like I said, asleep in the infirmary."

Dan paused for a moment.

"Oh. What happened?"

"Houki-san got an obscenely powerful IS from Tabane-nee. Shortly after, we were called up to deal with an enemy force of ISs. There were _twenty_ of them. The six us, in various groups, have been dealing with them from noon until about an hour ago. Houki-san betrayed us in the end and I was the other one of us still conscious, which meant that I was the one who had to drag everyone back to the base."

"That... sucks. What do you want to talk about?"

Ichika pinched the bridge of his nose and hunched over.

"Something light. Please, something to take my mind off of the fact that the six of us just dealt with an enemy force that razed an entire American military base on their own and one of my oldest friends has joined the group behind my parent's disappearance and my own kidnapping. Just, something..."

"Soo... How do you like being at IS Academy? If I didn't know any better, I'd call a place like that paradise."

"I live surrounded by girls who have an interest that is probably quite unhealthy in me. I have bodyguards outside of my bedroom door so that I don't have to worry about anyone sneaking into my room- which I _know_ would happen if I didn't. The student council president, the only person that I could hope to count on for aid, is almost as insane as the rest of them and seems to think that the entire school, and everyone in it, are her personal playthings. I'm pretty sure that almost everyone in my grade, and probably most of the people in the other grades as well as most of the younger and less cynical teaching staff, believe that I'm unbeatable and every one of my five losses were flukes."

_I'm ranting and I don't care._

"What the hell makes them think that you're invincible?"

"I think that beating a total of three different Representative Candidates in combat, plus that mall incident. I don't think it helped that when I beat the the German rep, I shouted 'This is my boomstick' at the top of my lungs and punctuated every word with a blast from the shotgun I was borrowing from Char for that part of the battle."

Dan burst out laughing.

Ichika smiled slightly.

"C-can I-I have a v-video?" He asked between laughs.

Ichika thought for a moment.

"I think that somebody somewhere probably has a recording. Stop by my house sometime soon. I've been wanting to introduce you to Char, anyway."

Ichika and Dan continued to catch up on recent events for about an hour before Ichika bid Dan goodnight and turned off the phone.

Ichika made himself comfortable in Charlotte's hospital room and tried to watch her all night, but succumbed to sleep at around 2 in the morning. Despite not having taken any of his sleeping pills, Ichika slept soundly for the first time in many years.

XXXXXXXX

The next morning

Seaside Academy infirmary, Charlotte's infirmary room

Ichika's classmates that awoke before him and Charlotte would often poke their heads into Charlotte's infirmary room. As soon as they saw him sleeping in the corner, all of them would turn back, nod at each other, and walk away.

Cecilia and Rin, once they awoke, looked in, turned around, and walked away. Laura, when she got up, poked her head in, nodded, then stood guard outside the door.

Eventually, Chifuyu entered the room. As soon as she looked at Ichika, she smiled slightly.

"Wake up, Ichika." Chifuyu said amusedly.

"Mmmph?"

Ichika moaned, slowly coming into consciousness.

"Orimura-sensei, can't you let him sleep for a few more minutes?" Charlotte asked impatiently.

"I know exactly why you want that. However, as it is, you two are going to miss breakfast."

_Hm? Food? That's good..._

_Huh? Why is my chest so warm?_

Ichika opened his eyes, which widened as soon as he looked down.

"Char!?"

At some point while Ichika was sleeping, Charlotte had moved herself into his arms so that he was holding her protectively, with her head resting over his heart. They had both sleeping soundly, and this was the position that Chifuyu found them in when she came to wake them up.

"What is it?" Charlotte asked innocently.

"W-why?"

"You looked so cute and warm when you were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you, but I was cold."

_I think I can hear Dan calling me a lucky bastard. I think he's right._

"...And? Are you cold now?"

"No."

"Then, let's go get some food." Ichika stated, lifting her up from his lap.

Charlotte pouted a little, then got up and let Ichika go. Ichika went out of the room first.

After he left, Chifuyu regarded Charlotte critically.

"You know, the last time somebody snuck up on him while he was sleeping, he nearly broke their arm."

Charlotte's eyes widened, then she nodded.

"To be honest, Dunois, I think you're the exception in many regards. Please, don't be cruel to him. I don't think he could take it."

"Orimura-sensei, I have no intention of being like that."

As they both left, Charlotte stopped.

"Orimura-sensei, can I ask you a question about him?"

"I suppose. What?"

"What kind of a life does he lead? To react like that..."

Chifuyu sighed a long-suffering sigh.

"The kind where he has every reason to believe that people as ruthless as the one you dealt with yesterday are constantly after him and targeting him. And considering the events of the past few days, I think that he's actually right. That scares even me."

"I see..."

Chifuyu looked around, then patted Charlotte's back.

"Don't worry about it. I think that you are perfectly capable of keeping his ass out of trouble. Don't be late for breakfast!"

XXXXXXXX

After breakfast

Some rocks overlooking the ocean

Ichika and Charlotte were sitting at the edge, watching the ocean waves. Charlotte's head was resting on his shoulder.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" Charlotte asked after a few minutes.

"I remember now."

"What do you remember?"

"Everything, Char. What happened five years ago, that I never mentioned to you. What my parents looked like, and the day that they left. Why my eyes are the way they are."

_I didn't want to tell her. I don't want to tell anyone. I don't want people to look at me and think 'there he is, that's the guy that was kidnapped when he was ten.' I want to be judged by who I am now, not what has happened to me._

_I... I don't want people to think that I'm a Bad Boy._

"Do you want to tell me?"

"Yes, I do."

XXXXXXXX

Eight years ago

The day of the first Mondo Grosso Finals

Orimura household

"Now, do you two have your permission slips with you?" A tall, pretty woman with black hair asked the two children in front of her.

"Yes, mom." The boy replied.

"Of course, mother." The girl answered.

"Good!" She cried.

A tall, black-haired man wearing a suit was walking around them, trying to straighten his tie.

"Dear!" She moaned,

"Your tie is crooked!" She fixed his tie for him and sent him on his way.

Turning back to the two children, she said,

"Now, Ichika-kun, Madoka-chan, Chifuyu-chan's staff are coming to get you in a couple of minutes. Do you have everything?"

"Yes, Mother." They replied in unison.

Mrs. Orimura beamed.

"Great! Do you two know what to do when a stranger comes and tries to bring you with him?"

"I'll protect Madoka and beat him up!" Ichika yelled, emphasizing his intent by punching the air.

Mrs. Orimura laughed awkwardly.

"It's good that you think that, Ichika-kun, but adults can be scary. The correct answer is that you go to Chifuyu-chan or a member of her staff and tell them about what's happening."

The doorbell rang.

"Oh! That's probably them!"

Mrs. Orimura ran out the door to greet one of Chifuyu's staff members.

"Ichika-kun! Madoka-chan! Time for you to go!" She called.

Ichika and Madoka ran over to the man wearing a staff badge in front of the door.

"Bye Mom!" The said in unison on their way out.

"Bye-bye you two! I love you!"

XXXXXXXX

After the tournament

Outside the Orimura household

"Nee-san, that was so awesome! When you were just like swoosh! and then your opponent lost." Ichika cried, moving his arms around and swooping in the air with exaggerated motions.

"Nee-sama, will you teach me to do that?" Madoka asked.

Chifuyu ruffled Madoka's hair affectionately.

"Maybe when you're older, Madoka."

Ichika grabbed on to Chifuyu's leg.

"Nee-san, Nee-san! Can you teach me how to use a sword like you do?"

Chifuyu looked down at Ichika.

"Aren't you already taking kendo? You don't need more yet. Hold on now, let me open the door."

As Chifuyu opened the door, all three called out,

"Mom, we're home!"

There was no answer.

"Mom?" Chifuyu called a little louder.

There was still no answer. Chifuyu turned to Ichika and Madoka.

"Stay here." She told them.

Chifuyu ran to look around the house.

Ten minutes later, she came back.

"Mom's not home and it's too early for Dad to come home. Maybe she went shopping? Go and play, I'll keep an eye on the door." Chifuyu explained.

Ichika and Madoka nodded, running off to their room.

Two days later, when their parents still weren't home, Chifuyu filed a missing persons report, but the police could find nothing. Ichika and Madoka still thought that their parents were coming home soon.

Two weeks later on a Friday, as Chifuyu was walking Ichika and Madoka home, Madoka asked,

"Nee-sama, when are Mother and Father coming back?"

Chifuyu stopped and bent over, embracing Ichika and Madoka in her arms. Her body was shaking, and Ichika could tell she was crying.

"I don't know."

After they got home, Chifuyu didn't leave her room for the rest of the day. When Ichika knocked by the door to tell her that dinner was ready, he could hear sobbing.

The next day, Chifuyu stayed on the computer in her room all day printing all sorts of forms and documents and looking them over. When Ichika brought her lunch he thought that one of the documents said that it was a 'Change of Guardianship' form, but he couldn't be sure because the Kanji were very complex and he didn't know what half of the words meant.

On Sunday, Chifuyu was calling many people on her phone asking questions. Ichika heard some mentions of salaries and prize money, but wasn't really sure what to think about it. Madoka told him not to worry, but he couldn't help it.

He was the man of the house now, he had to protect his family.

After a week, Chifuyu asked Ichika and Madoka, as Ichika was clearing away the dinner table,

"How would you two like it if I became your legal guardian?"

"What does that mean, Nee-sama?" Madoka asked.

"It means that as far as the police and government people are concerned, I'm your Mommy." Chifuyu responded patiently.

"Why do you need to do that?" Madoka asked.

"If I'm your guardian, then people won't put any of us up for adoption."

Ichika nodded. Madoka stared at Chifuyu, wide-eyed.

"They would do that?"

Chifuyu smiled mischievously.

"Not if I don't let 'em!"

Madoka, eyes wide, nodded.

"Ichika, what do you think?"

"If I'm still the one who makes lunch, it'll be fine."

Besides, Ichika had a sneaking feeling that his parents weren't coming home, but if Madoka wanted to think that they were, he wasn't going to tell her otherwise.

Both Chifuyu's emancipation and her custody requests were granted. Chifuyu started walking Ichika and Madoka to school before taking the bus on to her high school. At her school, Chifuyu was considered the 'ice queen'- almost nobody was at all close to her and she was unapproachable and cold. The only person who she let completely in was Tabane, and they were inseparable.

Chifuyu kept her emancipation quiet, and almost nobody even knew that she had siblings.

_**Two years later, Chifuyu's senior year cultural festival**_

Chifuyu's classroom, number 3-3, was set up to be a full maid cafe. Tabane, who had suggested the theme, had somehow managed to convince Chifuyu to be one of the maids along with Tabane. Even at that moment, Chifuyu _still_ wasn't quite sure about how Tabane had convinced her to do it, but there she was.

There was an area behind curtains that was being set up for the chefs and waitresses to work at, and Chifuyu was outside of it practicing how to walk in five-inch heels. She heard Tabane calling to her from the back area,

"Chi-chan!" And so Chifuyu hobbled over as best she could.

Tabane was holding Chifuyu's cell in her hand, open. As she handed it to Chifuyu, who looked irritated about the thought of a phone call, Tabane stated, a little too loudly,

"Ikkun."

Chifuyu's expression softened to something far kinder than any of her classmates had ever seen before. Tabane handed Chifuyu the phone.

"Ichika, what's wrong?" Chifuyu asked soothingly.

"Nee-san, you forgot your lunch." Ichika stated slightly grumpily.

Chifuyu's eyes widened for a moment before she slipped off the heels and walked over to her bag. Looking through it for a few moments, she discovered that she had, indeed, forgotten her lunch. She chuckled.

"So I did, Ichika."

"Madoka and I are standing outside your school. Can you come get us?"

Chifuyu glanced over to Tabane and sighed.

"I'll be out to get you in ten minutes at most. Do not leave the entrance."

"Okay, Nee-san!" Chifuyu snapped her phone shut, pinched the bridge of her nose for a second, then closed one of the curtains and changed back into her school uniform.

On her way out, one of the guys in the class asked who that was. Tabane responded with,

"The most important guy in her life."

Which caused most of the guys to do double-takes and most of the girls to start squealing and preparing to spread rumors as soon as they got a look at this guy.

A few minutes later, Chifuyu came back carrying Madoka over her left shoulder and holding hands with Ichika. Madoka was hugging Chifuyu's neck and Ichika had been glaring at every man that they passed in the hallway.

Madoka looked around, then wiggled a bit before jumping out of Chifuyu's arms. She ran over to the back room.

"Nee-sama, why is Tabane-neesan dressed up like this?"

Chifuyu's classmates, who were all regarding Chifuyu's siblings critically gave each other looks that said 'A miniature Chifuyu-san' when they noticed Madoka peeking her head in.

"Nee-san, are they making you dress up like a maid, too?" Ichika asked levelly.

"Because if you want I can beat them up for you."

When most of the boys in her class started laughing, Chifuyu glared at them.

"I've been teaching him kendo."

They all promptly stopped laughing and looked at Ichika wide-eyed.

"It's alright, Ikkun! I was the one who made her do it!" Tabane called.

Ichika smiled.

"Okay then, Tabane-nee. If you say so." Ichika took out a bento from his bag and handed it to Chifuyu before running to the back area to grab Madoka.

When they returned to Chifuyu, Ichika and Madoka looked at each other and then nodded.

"Can we look around the school?" They asked in unison.

Chifuyu sighed and crossed her arms, a stern but playful expression on her face.

"No."

"Pleeeeeaaaassse?"

"No."

"If we get one of the pretty onee-sans in your class to keep an eye on us, can we do it?" Ichika asked politely.

Chifuyu glared at them for a second and then sighed.

"Anyone who's not doing any jobs for the class come over here." She called.

Around half of the guys and a few girls in the class came over.

"Some of you," Chifuyu gestured at them,

"Will get to show my siblings around the school today." Chifuyu gestured at Ichika and Madoka.

"Before you ask, they're twins and semi well-behaved. I think two or three will be sufficient. Keep an eye on them, and don't let them out of your sight. And don't buy anything that they try and get you to buy them, they either brought enough money or won't get it."

One of the girls raised her hand.

"What do we get in exchange?"

Chifuyu smirked.

"Ichika, what do you think about cooking dinner for six?"

Ichika looked at his sister, wide-eyed and positively glowing in happiness.

"Nee-san, are you going to bring home friends?"

Chifuyu eyed her classmates critically before nodding.

"I would love to." Ichika said. He turned to Chifuyu's classmates and bowed deeply.

The room erupted in squeals.

Chifuyu sighed and pointed at two of the girls who hadn't been squealing, as well as the one guy who had managed to be a little closer to her and Tabane than ambivalence.

"You three." She stated.

The three gulped and nodded, then showed Ichika and Madoka off. Ichika eyed the boy critically before sighing and nodding.

Ichika had a blast making them chase him. Somehow, the guy was the only person who had managed to keep up with him and Madoka when they started running. The two girls would always catch up to them, but the guy was the one who could actually get to them fast enough.

The guy, as he introduced himself, was Matsuda Kentaro, and Ichika actually kind of liked him. At one point, Ichika and Matsuda split off from Madoka, who wanted the girls to show her something different than what they had been seeing.

As they were walking to the track, Matsuda asked,

"What's it like being the Ice Queen's little brother?"

Ichika looked at him curiously.

"Ice Queen?"

"It's what we call you sister. She acts very differently around you two than she does around most people."

Ichika puffed his chest up proudly at that.

"Good. I was worried that if she acted like that to everyone, then she had a boyfriend that she was hiding from us."

"So, what's it like? Does she ever seem to, I don't know... have high expectations of you?"

"Nee-san? I think that she wouldn't mind as long as we were happy. I do know that I feel pressure about it, being the little brother of the Mondo Grosso champion. It makes me strive to do better, and it makes me happy to know that I can be helpful to both my sisters."

Matsuda laughed.

"I would be glad about that, too. What do you do to help?"

Ichika puffed his chest up a little prouder.

"I make meals, do the dishes and clean the house. Both of my sisters are complete slobs."

Matsuda started, as if stricken, and realized that Chifuyu never talked about her parents.

"Hey, Matsuda-san."

Ichika looked more thoughtful and almost mournful now.

"If Nee-san started dating somebody, do you think that she'd forget about taking care of Madoka and I?"

Matsuda looked back to how Chifuyu treated most boys the past two years.

_I think that she's been pushing people away because she wants to be strong for you two._ He thought, but couldn't say. _You're so mature for your age. You shouldn't need to worry about that sort of stuff at all. Nobody should._

"I don't think so, Ichika. She doesn't seem the type."

Ichika smiled.

"Sooo... have you ever heard of Gundam?" Ichika asked.

When Matsuda nodded, Ichika's eyes widened and he bowed lowly and comically as though he was looking at a god.

"So, what do you think of the new series?" Matsuda asked.

Ichika made a completely disgusted face. It looked rather funny on a nine-year-old.

"It's awful. I don't see why they're making it so that all of the pilots are _girls_! That's just stupid!" Ichika whined.

_Yes, he's still just nine._ Matsuda thought.

"But your sister is a world-class pilot for the closest real-life equivalent to Gundams we have."

Ichika shook his head.

"Yes, but this is real life! I'm talking about a TV show here!"

By the end of the day, after everyone had left the Orimura house, Ichika looked at Chifuyu and deadpanned,

"I approve of Matsuda-san," before going to sleep.

XXXXXXXX

Present day

Rocks overlooking the ocean

By the time Ichika had finished recounting his tale, the sun was already setting.

Charlotte smiled.

"So, what happened to Matsuda-san?" She asked.

"He's working as one of Tabane-nee's employees. I don't really trust him with everything, but he's a pretty cool guy. He pops by the house every once and a while. We watch old Gundam DVDs and whine to each other about how much we hate the new series. He was the one who got me back in touch with Tabane-nee and got my my job." Ichika replied.

Charlotte smiled before trailing her finger on Ichika's stomach.

"So, he's on the whitelist for dating your sister, eh?"

Ichika straightened.

_I don't like where this is going..._

"Yes." He said hesitantly.

"Who else is?"

"On my list of people allowed to date either of my sisters? Matsuda-san and Dan. Everyone else is on the blacklist on they've proven otherwise."

"What would you do to them if they start dating her and aren't on the whitelist first?"

Ichika sighed.

"Try to find something that convinces me to put them on the whitelist so that I don't go after them. Chifuyu-nee has given up so much for me already, I don't want to ruin things for her if she's going to be happy with somebody."

Charlotte's narrowed suspiciously.

"The keyword is happy, right?"

"The keyword is happy." Ichika replied with conviction.

"Okay, then. Should everyone be happy, or just your sister?"

"Everyone."

"Even you?"

Ichika hesitated for a moment.

"Maybe."

Charlotte frowned at that.

"That's stupid, and you know it." She told him.

_No, it's not. I'm a Bad Boy._

"Maybe you're right. But still, sometimes I wonder if I even can be happy, or feel any emotions beyond anger, these days. Besides, I'm a Bad Boy. Bad Boys don't get to be happy. Bad Boys just get punished."

Charlotte frowned again.

"Then tell me, does this make you happy?" She asked.

And then, just like that, on a rocky outcrop overlooking the ocean at sunset, she kissed him briefly. Ichika's cheeks reddened and his eyes widened.

Charlotte pulled back, blushing.

Ichika smiled playfully at her.

"You know, I think it does."

And so he kissed her again.

XXXXXXXX

The same time

A completely different rocky outcrop... really...

As Chifuyu and Tabane watched the sun set, Chifuyu popped open a can of beer, which came from a cooler by them.

Tabane regarded her critically.

"Already drinking, this early in the evening?" She asked.

"Yesterday brought up some bad memories. I can afford to have one or two tonight, before we go home."

Tabane looked at the sun.

"Tell me, Chi-chan. Do you drink to forgive or to forget?"

Chifuyu looked away from Tabane.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do!" Tabane insisted.

"No, I don't. Enlighten me."

Tabane sighed.

"Do you drink to forgive yourself for everything that's ever happened to him, under some mistaken impression that it's your fault? Or do you drink to forget everything that you've done to protect him, everything that you've sacrificed, every selfish feeling that you've stored away to protect him?" Tabane paused.

"Why do you care?" Chifuyu asked defensively.

"Two reasons. First, because I'm your friend and the only person who seems to have known you long enough to even tell that something's wrong. Second, because I really need to know which is better so that I can sort out my own feelings. You know why. I'm just as guilty as you are."

Chifuyu paused.

"Have a drink." She said, passing Tabane a fresh beer from the cooler.

"Thanks."

"And please, Tabane. Go back to normal tomorrow, at least until you have to leave. I don't think I can take any more you being the serious one here."

Tabane laughed.

"Of course, Chi-chan."

Tabane and Chifuyu each took a sip, then looked down at the rocky outcropping below them.

"Aww look, they're kissing!" Tabane drawled.

Chifuyu looked down.

"Looks like I need to find her a new roommate." She sighed.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Aaaand, that's it for this chapter. One more chapter left in Part 1, but I think that some people can probably guess what it is. I'm taking a week-long break between the end of Part 1 and the start of Part 2, so the next two updates will be on the 24th and 1st.

As another note, for the foreseeable future, updates will probably be on Mondays now


	13. Chapter 12: Phantom Task

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means point-of-view character's thoughts

AN: This one's short, but it kind of needs to be this way.

**Part 1, Chapter 12: Phantom Task**

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

July 7th, 11:30 PM

Phantom Task Headquarters

The room that Houki was waiting in had walls ten feet high. They were made of some sort of black metal that seemed to absorb any excess light, causing an illusion of the room being dimly-lit despite it being covered in lights.

In the center was a pair of black leather couches facing each other, with a table between them. Decorating the walls were all sorts of different guns and weapons, and there were two doors in the room. Each door had a pair of men in black suits holding on to an uzi standing by it. Behind Houki was the door that she had entered through, and across from her was the door that the people she was awaiting were going to enter from.

According to Madoka, Houki was there to be judged if she's worthy of being a 'season' or not, whatever that means. If she isn't a 'season', she would be anything from a grunt to a 'weather' that works under one of the 'seasons'. Houki didn't really get it, but figured that was because Madoka never gave her a new employee packet.

Do secret organizations even have new employee packets?

Houki didn't think so. Then again, you never know.

Do secret organizations even pay their members?

Houki was seriously starting to wonder if coming here was even a good idea.

And then she remembered. She can't go back. Not to those people. Not if they acted like _that_...

However, she also had been active in a combat situation for a few hours, and her heightened awareness and adrenalin were now wearing off. This meant that she was getting rather tired, not to mention hungry, rather quickly.

Deciding that the couches looked extremely comfortable, she curled up on the one that she was on and went to sleep, wondering how the hell her birthday turned into a day like today.

Sometime later- Houki wasn't sure when, this damnable place had no clocks and no windows, she was awakened by a familiar face, though it took her a minute to realize why.

The woman smiling before her had long, black hair that came down halfway to her hips and was parted in the center, above her forehead. She had age lines by her small brown eyes and her lips, which while smiling, looked as though they could easily be pressed sternly together.

The woman was holding a tray filled with Houki's favorite foods from when she was younger, and it took a couple of seconds for Houki to figure out who this was.

"Akemi-obaasan?" She asked, not even hiding the shock.

Mrs. Orimura truly did look like an older version of her daughters.

The woman beamed at Houki.

"Correct, Houki-chan! You must be starving. I'm sorry I don't have anything else, but I had some other work that, sadly, counted as a higher priority than seeing you or getting you birthday presents. I already have my secretary and some of your more senior subordinates out shopping so that we can have a proper party next weekend."

Houki blinked and looked around the room, realizing that none of the guards were there any more. Houki wondered if that meant they trusted her not to run, or if the woman with her was considered perfectly capable of dealing with her should she step out of line. Probably both.

"My... subordinates?" Houki asked, nervous but strangely liking the sound of that.

"Yes, I will explain everything to you _after _you eat! It's about six A.M. and you haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, right?"

Houki blinked sluggishly.

"I... suppose not. Thank you, Akemi-obaasan."

Houki slowly began eating. Her rate of consumption increased as she realized that this food tasted exactly like she remembered it. She wondered vaguely if Ichika learned how to cook from Mrs. Orimura, before realizing that he wasn't around right now and she needed to eat and get answers out of Mrs. Orimura before she could begin to plot with Madoka about how to prove to Ichika that he belongs with her.

After Houki was done eating, she said,

"It's good, Akemi-obaasan. Just as I remember it."

Mrs. Orimura smiled demurely.

"I'll show you how to make it, Houki-chan, when we have the time. Now, though, we need to discuss a few things."

Houki sat up straighter and nodded.

"I'll start with a little bit of our history. We are known as the Ruined Country Weaving Industry- Phantom Task. We are an organization founded fifty years ago by a man named Katsuro Sarashiki, the younger brother of the 15th head of the Sarashiki clan."

"Sarashiki?" Houki asked incredulously.

Mrs. Orimura cupped Houki's hand in her right.

"That's right! The student council president of IS Academy is the 17th head of the Sarashiki clan. I'll tell you more about _those_ people later. Our organization's primary objective is not something that you really need to know at this time. However, we carry out many of our objectives using the powers of IS', whose cores we are capable of reproducing."

Houki stood up instantly at that.

"But... My sister is the only person in the world who can make those!" She practically screamed.

Mrs. Orimura waved her hand.

"She was helping us for a while. Of course, she also knew about our true objectives. She got really angry at us five years ago for some reason, though, so she left."

Houki sat back down, shocked.

Mrs. Orimura smiled.

"Fortunately, Madoka-chan joined us at the same time, and she's just as capable as Tabane-chan was! Sadly, most of the cores that we produce can't be used by humans, so we can only mass-produce golems at the moment."

Houki blinked.

"Where do you get the resources to do something like that?"

Mrs. Orimura waved her hand dismissively.

"You don't need to know that yet."

Houki clenched her hands and gritted her teeth.

"_When _are you going to tell me?"

"After you are officially promoted to the rank that we've decided on for you. Most of this is heavily classified until you reach a high enough rank."

"Right... you said something about subordinates?"

"I'm glad that you were listening! We have decided that you are going to be the fourth of our seasons."

Houki turned her head to the side.

"Seasons?"

"Phantom Task is divided into three divisions: Command, Research and Combat. The Command division contains all of our administrative employees and manages most of our resources and budgets. Heading up the Command division is our board of directors, of which both my husband and I are members. I'm in charge of staffing the Combat and Research divisions, my husband is in charge of finances."

"Okay..."

"The Research division is headed by a single person who is directly in charge of managing funding and such, and then four different head scientists from various divisions. Currently, the head of the Research division is my daughter, Madoka-chan. Her last couple of missions have been done because of some personal requests of hers and our lack of commanding membership in the Combat division."

"I'm guessing that I'm going to be in the Combat division?"

"Yes, you are, Houki-chan. Our current head of the Combat division is Squall Meusel, a proud and capable woman slightly older than Chifuyu-chan. Under her are the IS division and the infantry division, both of which are mono-gender. There are no women in the infantry division, because even somebody not good in an IS is more useful in one than as a common footsoldier."

Houki nodded. That made sense, ISs are almost completely unaffected by anything short of an atomic bomb.

"Working directly underneath Squall-chan in the IS section are four 'seasons'. Of these seasons, we currently have Winter, Spring, and Autumn filled. Under the seasons we have two weathers that work as their assistants."

Houki blinked. That seemed a little bit over-complicated to her.

"So... you want me to become Summer?"

"Of course. If you accept, you will have the full resources of the organization behind you in any operation that you may request to have carried out. You'll also have the power to call a vote between the four seasons and Squall and veto a mission if you don't like it. We give you a generous regular salary and any major events that you desire to celebrate become events for at least your entire season. Each season has roughly a quarter of the soldiers in the Combat division working under them."

Houki thought for a moment. This sounded very nice and all, but...

"I have no training in commanding soldiers or other aspects that would be important to any leader of an organization."

Mrs. Orimura smiled.

"That's okay, we plan on teaching you. What do you say, Houki-chan?"

Houki paused.

_If I accept this offer, then Ichika might very well hate me._

_But he already does, because of that damned Frog and Ichika's damned older sister. If I keep with them, then Akemi-obaasan, Madoka and Ryuugaki-ojiisan will most likely help me._

_But do I really want that?_

_Yes. I want it so much. No, I don't just want it. I _deserve_ it. I never forgot about him, not once, and I kept on working, to show that I would be worthy of standing by him._

_And then this girl, rich and spoiled, comes out of nowhere and charms him with her innocent act. Does she seriously think that anyone is buying her kindness and caring act? Besides Ichika?_

_Ohh yes, I will come here. And they will teach me, and I will show everyone that I'm the one worthy of Ichika._

Houki was smiling smugly as she reached the end of her thoughts.

"I'll become Summer, Akemi-obaasan. When do you want me to start?"

Mrs. Orimura began smiling gleefully. It didn't reach her eyes.

XXXXXXXX

Two days later (Sunday)

Houki's official chambers

All members of Phantom Task live on-base. All members of Phantom Task report to the cafeteria at 8 AM, 1:30 PM and 6 PM, sharp or earlier, if they want to eat.

All officers of Phantom Task get their own rooms and office. It is well-understood that while the pay in Phantom Task is excellent, if you are a member until you die or screw up so badly that they kill you. Very few people have ever tried to leave Phantom Task and lived to tell the tale, and fewer have actually succeeded, Tabane being one of the rare exceptions.

Houki understood this very well and very quickly, but didn't really mind. After all, she was hand-picked by _two_ members of the Board of Directors _and_ the head of their Research division. In other words, Houki was Important. Even if she weren't a Season, she would still be Important.

The fact that she was now in the top one percent of an organization with massive economical might and thousands of members was just the icing.

It doesn't change that the real reason she's here is to gain Ichika. Fortunately, she did gain access to a great deal of classified data. She now knows part of why the organization wants him in the first place, and she has to admit that she approves.

Though it might have something to do with wanting to see him in a suit and long-coat. But Houki's pretty sure that it's mostly their plans for him.

Where she's going to be his bride!

Houki practically skipped in glee when she heard that part. She didn't want to rush it, oh no, but Houki and Mrs. Orimura were already planning out the wedding. She wanted to be prepared, you know.

And tomorrow, she was being formally introduced to the organization! With a party! Today, though, she needed to go visit Madoka. Houki had already gained some degree of understanding of her duties, but was hoping for Madoka to explain them a bit more anyway.

Wonderfully, Houki's rooms were right next to Madoka's, because families in Phantom Task get their own sections in the apartments. She was in the Orimura family section. Her bed was king-sized. The bedroom had two closets and cabinets. The office had two desks.

Houki knocked on Madoka's door, using a signal knock that they had used often when they were younger.

"Come on in, Houki-chan!" Madoka called.

Houki nodded, opening the door, and stopped, slack-jawed.

The room had pictures of Ichika, from every age, lining the ceiling. Along the walls were all sorts of mechanical devices whose functions Houki couldn't even begin to guess at. She looked to the side and noticed a lift built in to the main office area, which Houki realized probably led to the Research Department's main lab.

Madoka was wearing a simple black shirt and long black skirt with a white lab coat over it, slurping on some instant ramen with chopsticks. Madoka's hair was a mess, as though she hadn't slept in a bit. Around her neck was a necklace that looked like a white teardrop with a black dot in the center of the thick part.

"Madoka, what do all of these things... do?"

Madoka laughed and casually waved her chopsticks side-to-side.

"The ones to your right are failed attempts at creating IS-based weapons that kill the enemy pilot without damaging the IS in any way. The ones on your left are failed attempts at forcing an enemy pilot to release themselves from the IS so that we can take it with us. I've almost figured out how to make a working model of the ones on the left that we could try testing soon, but it's hard to find volunteers for testing the ones on the right for some reason." Madoka returned to eating.

Houki honestly couldn't tell if Madoka was joking or not.

"Madoka... I was wondering if you could tell me what Ichika's role here is going to be and some other things..."

Madoka set down her ramen, her eyes hardening.

"You know _why _we want the complete set, right?"

Houki nodded.

"He's going to be the man who leads us to victory in the Prime Objective. He will carry it out, and then we will ascend to our rightful place at the top and he shall lead us to even greater glory. And you, Houki-chan, shall be the one to stand beside him."

Houki blushed, grinning ear-to-ear.

"So that's why!"

Madoka smiled hungrily.

"Yes. That's why, Houki-chan. What else did you want to know?"

"What responsibilities am I going to have?"

"We're going to be training you on how to run the organization and your section with brutal efficiency. Failure is not an option. Now, go and read some more. Your party is tomorrow, and we'll talk more then. On your bed should be your new uniform."

Houki sighed, nodded and went back to her room.

_This is terrible! I'm a high-ranking member of a large and powerful organization and I can't even have any fun with it._

Houki looked at her new uniform on her bed.

_Well, at least it's interesting..._

On the bed, on top of a pile of clothes, was a note from Mrs. Orimura that told Houki she picked it out herself and to wear her hair down with the outfit.

The outfit consisted of a pair of black combat boots which came up to just below her knees, fishnets that came up to her thighs and a long black skirt. She had a sleeveless white blouse and a black vest with a white pair of gloves that went up above her elbows. Finally, there was a mask in the same bright magenta as Houki's Akatsubaki, which covered her eyes and upper head, with a bit of black trim by the four spikes, two on each side. The mask spread back to cover the back of her head and it had a horn coming out of the top of the area where her forehead would be.

Houki looked at it for a short while, then went back to her office to read more.

XXXXXXXX

The next day (Monday)

Houki's rooms

Houki got up bright and early, too excited to continue sleeping. She got changed into her new uniform and came to her office to discover Mrs. Orimura waiting for her with breakfast.

After Houki finished she began,

"When are we going to the party?"

"In a couple of hours. There are a couple of things I wanted to do with you first, just the two of us."

"What?"

"Well, as you know, Ichika is going to be very important to this organization, so I wanted to tell you that you can feel free to hold your closeness to him over all of the other members of the Organization. Now, tell me about how my son has been doing..."

XXXXXXXX

A couple of hours later

Houki's party

The first thing that Houki noticed about her party was that everyone was very desperately happy. It wasn't entirely visible, but Houki briefly wondered if the people there were only happy because they would be punished if they weren't.

It couldn't be that, right? Madoka's here, not to mention Mr. and Mrs. Orimura. They're good people, they wouldn't be here if the Organization was evil. Sure, Madoka was working on weapons that can kill IS pilots, but that's just because those pilots were weak if they got hit. They're strength testers, and everyone who fails the test wasn't worthy of piloting in the first place.

After having those brief thoughts, Houki proceeded to mingle with the people at the party. Due to her mask, most of the people didn't know her name or face and were interested in who the party was for in the first place.

Apparently, all that they had been told was that they had found somebody worthy of the title Summer and she was close to Ichika-sama.

After about an hour, Mrs. Orimura called Houki to the back of the stage where they were going to announce her.

"What do you think of them?" Mrs. Orimura asked.

"They're a little naive and seem to really like Ichika. They're curious about who the party's for, but not so much as to risk asking. I like how well-disciplined they are."

Mrs. Orimura smiled at the compliment.

"Well then, are you ready to show them?"

Houki smiled as well.

"Of course."

"Go without the mask when I call you."

Mrs. Orimura walked onto the stage, raising her hands to silence the chatter in the room.

"My friends, today is a glorious day indeed!"

She moved her hands and gripped the side of the podium tightly.

"For today, not only am I here to introduce you to Summer, our final Season, but I have another announcement to make!"

There was a cheer.

"Summer has been chosen as my son's wife for the day that he comes to his full potential as our Glorious Leader!"

There were murmurs among the audience.

"She has been an honorary member of the family since almost the day that she was born and I expect you to treat her like one of my own."

The audience was silent.

"May I present to you- Houki Shinonono, Summer and future Glorious Lady!"

Houki proudly strode in, determination visible on her face as she walked to stand beside Mrs. Orimura. The cheers were massive and genuine.

_No way. This is for me? This is... why? Why are they so happy to see me?_

Houki was only barely hiding the confusion that she was feeling inside. She managed to hide her surprise extremely well when Mrs. Orimura patted her on the shoulder and gestured to the podium, stepping aside to make room for Houki. She shot Mrs. Orimura a glare, which was seen by every person there and caused them to respect her more.

After all, nobody normal, not even Squall-sama, shows insubordination to somebody ranked that high up and doesn't expect some... 'disciplining.'

"Hello, members of Phantom Task. I am Summer and you _will_ obey me. Remember this: I don't care about any of you. I want Ichika and if I think that you're getting in between me and him, I _will_ have you removed."

Houki hopped off the stage and was immediately surrounded by many of the younger members of her division.

"What's Ichika-sama like?"

"How far have you gotten with Ichika-sama?"

"Is he as good in an IS as they say?"

Houki decided to answer these questions in order.

"Ichika is rather aloof and isn't very comfortable with his emotions. He's frustratingly easily turned against the people that he should care about by those with less than proper interests in him. It's why we need to save him; none of the people nearby him truly understand him. He's very good at kendo and is nice to everyone, but can't pick up what they're telling him and always assumes that people just want to friends despite whatever they might actually want to do. Sadly, we only recently reunited, and he's been led astray by his roommate, who was trying to remove the aspects which I fixed."

Houki took a deep breath.

"As for his IS skills... one week after the first day of school, he was in a duel with the Representative Candidate from England. He won. He's been getting better since then." Houki called over the chatter in the room so that everyone could hear.

The silence was deafening.

XXXXXXXX

After the party

Houki's rooms

Everyone seemed to accept Ichika's skill very quickly after that, and Houki's word about him was gospel. Houki enjoyed, for the first time in quite a while, acceptance for not just her strength, something that she hadn't had in a while. She immediately asked Madoka who could teach her how to fight better and ended up meeting a pair of people.

Next time she fought against those foolish girls and her poor, misguided Ichika, she was going to win...

XXXXXXXX

_**Somebody**_

Thursday

Texas, USA

The girl patted the newspaper in her hands.

"To think that he's actually _insane_ enough to answer questions in an interview? What kind of attention hog is he? It's bad enough that Natasha is dead and Iris has retired, now we have an attention hog man who thinks he's all that?"

"Jessie, we've just gotten a call from your sponsor." A woman called.

"What is it, Mama?"

"You're transferring to the IS school in Japan." She said. Jessie blinked.

"I thought you didn't want me leaving here yet?"

"Yes, well. Charlotte's going to be in your class, so we decided it would be okay."

Jessie's eyes lit up.

"Why didn't you _say_ that Charlie's going to be there? Of course I'm going! When am I due to be transferred?"

"You're flying in today. You start classes Monday."

"Well then, let's get packing!"

XXXXXXXX

_**Tabane**_

Alice's Mansion

_**Dear Ikkun,**_

_**I'm so sorry. About everything.**_

_**It's my fault that Macchan is where she is. And now, Houki-chan has gone to them, too.**_

_**I can't let them continue to control my life. I must go on.**_

_**Now, Ikkun has so many friends. How about I make some presents for their toys? I'm sure that they'd like that.**_

_**I'll get my sister back and I'll get Macchan back. Just you wait and see, Ikkun.**_

_**Could I have you come to my new announcement as my security detail? Or maybe a special guest? I miss you all already.**_

_**With care,**_

_**Tabane**_

Tabane put down the pen that she was using to write the letter, crumpled it up, and began sobbing.

_I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry... can any of you ever forgive me?_

XXXXXXXX

_**Akemi Orimura**_

Phantom Task, Main Orimura rooms

Mrs. Orimura was sitting with her husband and youngest child.

"With Houki-chan here, we can finally move past phase one."

Madoka and Mr. Orimura nodded.

"I shall make contact with their leaders, then." Madoka said.

Mrs. Orimura nodded. Mr. Orimura grunted.

"Good. Begin phase two." He barked.

_**Part 1 End**_

XXXXXXXX

AN: And, that's the end of part 1. I'm taking a week long break, see you all on the eighth of October, with a chapter thrice the length of this one


	14. Part 2, Chapter 1: Confession

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means point-of-view character's thoughts

AN: Sorry about the delay, had a cold from hell and some other stuff.

XXXXXXXX

_**Chifuyu**_

September 7th, afternoon

IS Academy Overseer's Tower

As Chifuyu regained consciousness, she felt a great deal of heat all around her body. When she opened her eyes, she saw fire.

Too much fire.

Chifuyu winced and put her hand to her head.

Headache.

When she drew her hand away, it was red.

She saw her fellow teachers at the Academy, all in various levels of injury. She noticed a fallen wall, just to her right, that had a disembodied teacher's arm sticking out of the side, unmoving.

_Goddammit, Houki. What the hell got you to do that?_

Chifuyu tried to stand, but she found that she couldn't put weight her right leg. At least all of her limbs were still attached. Her phone and communicator weren't functioning. She crawled over to the side and saw Yamada, unconscious and bleeding profusely. Chifuyu grabbed Yamada's communicator, which was working, and tuned in to the IS Academy combat comm channel.

"This is Ichika Orimura! As Vice President of the Student council, unless any teachers are willing to take over, I am formally taking command of the defense of the Academy. If you are any of those people and have any objections to my taking of command, speak up now." Chifuyu's little brother called.

Chifuyu smiled to herself.

_Idiot, you're more qualified to take over than most of the teachers._

Ichika began outlining some semblance of a plan, and the gunshots began.

Chifuyu laughed bitterly before coughing up a little bit of blood.

_Well, it's going to be a bumpy ride, Otouto..._

XXXXXXXX

**I am proud to present...**

**Ichika's Trust**

**Part 2: End of Normalcy**

**Chapter 1: Confession**

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Sunday, a month and a half earlier

Orimura Household

Truth be told, Ichika very quickly fell asleep on Charlotte's shoulder on the bus ride back to the Academy from the Seaside Academy. He didn't know if any of their classmates minded one way or another, and at the moment, he didn't really care.

Somehow, when he woke up after they arrived at the Academy monorail, his head had moved to Charlotte's lap. Neither really minded that much. Ichika ignored the blushes on every other person in the bus' face, besides Laura and Chifuyu's. Ichika and Chifuyu got off the bus to go home.

Ichika currently had one week left of vacation. School would begin again a week after Monday.

As soon as Ichika and Chifuyu stepped into their house with their luggage, Chifuyu turned around to look at him.

"First rule: No girlfriends allowed over after 9:30 P.M." Chifuyu barked.

Ichika nodded dumbly.

"Second rule: I will kill you if I become an aunt at any age before thirty-five."

Ichika looked slightly horrified before nodding again.

"Third rule: You _will_ do at _least_ one interview with a major, trustworthy and legitimate IS magazine. I will be your chaperone. I will set it up, most likely for the day after tomorrow."

Ichika sighed.

_I wonder how many more..._

"Fourth rule: Don't start bullying your girlfriend's father just because he's an asshole. Wait until you have had more vacation time to properly plot vengeance. Believe me, it's less likely to backfire that way."

Ichika blinked.

_How did she know about that?_

"Fifth, and final rule: Make meals and keep the house clean. That is all. Dismissed."

Ichika stood up straight and gave her a mock-salute.

"Yes, Ma'am! When will you do your obligatory vacation-celebration drinking phase?"

Chifuyu sighed. Her brother knew her habits too well.

"Tomorrow. I missed your cooking." She replied.

Ichika walked over and checked the fridge, which had nothing good in it. Muttering, he dialed Asamiya's number on his phone.

"I really wish I didn't have to do this Asamiya-san, but I'm pretty sure that I'd be mobbed by people and reporters if I went grocery shopping."

Ichika waited as he heard an affirmative in the other side of the line.

"Okay, so, here's what I need:"

About an hour later, Asamiya returned with the items and Ichika began to work. Chifuyu sat down on the table and rested her head over her hands, watching her brother chop vegetables. When he was done chopping, he pulled out the pan and turned,

"So, I was thinking about having Char over tomorrow."

Chifuyu raised one eyebrow, only slightly surprised.

"Oh?"

Ichika scratched the back of his head.

_I don't like what you haven't been telling me._

"I want her to meet Dan. And you, in an environment outside of her rather strict teacher." Ichika explained.

Ichika looked in Chifuyu's eyes.

"I want her to know the people important to me."

Chifuyu blinked, but only slightly before smiling warmly.

"I think it's good that you want to do that." Chifuyu replied.

Ichika nodded, then got back to making dinner. Once he was done, they sat and ate, talking about inane things like any movies that they wanted to see and the like. When Chifuyu asked Ichika just how far things had gone with Charlotte, Ichika responded by asking her how things were going with Matsuda. Chifuyu actually blushed a little at that before whacking him on the head and calling him an idiot.

After dinner, Ichika gathered and cleaned the dishes, then went to his room and called Dan, telling Dan that they could meet up the next day and that Ichika had the footage from his fight with Laura.

Ichika called Charlotte, who was happy to come over the next day to meet Dan. He bid Charlotte good night and booted up the computer. He did some research on a few older police cases, using the programs that Tabane had installed on his phone as a precaution, then made a couple of calls with his phone. When he told them who he was and why he was calling, he got what he figured were straight answers pretty easily.

Satisfied with the day's work, he tried to sleep.

_Houki-san..._

_Why? What did I do?_

_Why do you hate Char and Chifuyu so much?_

_What did they do to you?_

Ichika didn't get much sleep that night.

XXXXXXXX

_**Cecilia**_

Sunday night

IS Academy dorms- Cecilia's room

Cecilia laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling.

_Houki-san, what you have done is unforgivable._

_You have brought shame upon your family._

_So, so much shame to a family that was well on its way to becoming one of the most revered families in our generation._

_We can only hope that Tabane-san makes the right decisions regarding this._

_I hope that the people once closest to you can bring themselves to get over this, as well._

_For all our sakes, as I doubt this is over._

XXXXXXXX

_**Laura**_

Sunday night

IS Academy dorms- Laura and Charlotte's room

Laura stared out the window, clenching her fists tight enough to almost draw blood.

_That woman has betrayed us._

_She received the most powerful IS of our generation from her sister, and immediately turned against us._

_Ungrateful, traitorous bitch._

_She doesn't deserve anything that she ever received._

_Every bit of kindness, every bit of respect._

_I know one thing for certain._

_If the Commander or the Instructor don't get to her first..._

_I'll be the one to kill her._

_That's all that traitors deserve, after all._

_No... she's getting worse off._

_Most traitors are hung._

_Her death won't be quick._

_That woman will regret the day she decided to go to the other side._

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

Sunday night

IS Academy dorms, Laura and Charlotte's room

Charlotte had tears in her eyes, staring at her computer.

_God, Houki-san._

_Did you really hate me that much?_

_I'm sorry._

_Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am._

_I can't just break up with Ichika from this, though._

_He's probably going to take this worse than almost all of us._

_I need to be there for him._

_He's been there for me, and I know he wants to be in the future._

_It's the least I can do, because I love him._

_It would probably completely destroy him._

_Why do you want to destroy him, Houki-san?_

_I thought you loved him, too..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Rin**_

Sunday night

IS Academy dorms, Rin's room

Rin was taking a cold shower, deep in thought.

_What did we do to deserve this?_

_Is this our punishment for giving her room?_

_Would something better have happened if we had interfered and tried to help her move past?_

_I know that Ichika was trying not to hurt her._

_I know that, but..._

_It doesn't make this any easier._

XXXXXXXX

_**Chifuyu**_

Sunday night

Orimura household

Chifuyu stared at the wall, slowly crushing the can in her hand.

_God_dammit_, Houki._

_What the hell did I do wrong?_

_I was supposed to be there for you._

_I was supposed to take care of you._

_Where did I go wrong?_

_What did I do?_

_What shouldn't I have done?_

_Why?_

_Because of me, my little sister, and now Tabane's, too, are gone._

_Gone to those people._

_I can't just let this happen._

_There must be something I can do._

_This was my fault in the first place._

I_ was the responsible adult there._

_It was _my_ job to make sure that they didn't go down the wrong path._

_Dammit, I have no time to worry about this._

_I have too much to do._

_Why, Houki?_

_Why?_

XXXXXXXX

_**Tabane**_

Sunday night

Alice's mansion

Tabane sat up, surrounded by bottles of beer and gripping her head in her hands. Not even the beer could lessen the pain of Houki's betrayal.

_I need to stop drinking._

_I'm not going to be able to get anything done if I just stay here and drink._

_There must be something I can do._

_There always has been before._

_Maybe I should've listened to Ikkun more._

_He always has been wanting me to use my cores for more..._

_Wait... that's it!_

Tabane ran unsteadily over to her lab, searching though piles of junk until she found some blueprints.

_After I present those new projects, I'll certainly be able to build this. Once we're ready to directly fight Phantom Task, having something like this would probably help greatly._

_Ah! I'll contact Tate-chan._

_I'll fix this._

_Even if it..._

Tabane shuddered at the thought.

_Even if it means that I have to start acting like responsible adult._

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Monday

Orimura Household

"Ichika, wake up." Somebody told him.

_Huh?_

"Ichika, wake up now." A girl told him amusedly.

"No." Ichika replied.

_I need more sleep..._

"Ichika, it's 9:00."

"Why is that important?"

"Ichikaaa..." The tone was the only warning he got before he felt very cold, and just as suddenly much warmer than before.

He opened his eyes to Charlotte facing him in his bed, pressed against him.

"Wha-"

Charlotte pressed her finger to his lips.

"Sssh. Your sister woke up long enough to let us in, then went back to sleep. She was complaining about a hangover. I doubt you want to wake her."

_Wait, I don't remember her drinking last night..._

"Why are you here, Char?"

"Because you had Dan-san, his sister, and I come around 8:30. It's 9:00. You need to get up."

_Right, I guess my body's not used to the sleeping pills anymore. Wait..._

"Wait, Ran-chan's here?" Ichika asked as he sat up. He was awake now.

Charlotte draped her arms around his shoulders.

"Yep. Didn't you invite her?"

Ichika groaned and put his hand on Charlotte's.

"Char, as much as I like sitting here, we can't stay like this. I need to get dressed and shouldn't keep Dan waiting and besides, I think that Ran-chan's had a crush on me since my second year of middle school and I don't want t-to upset her..."

"I figured as much. Now, though, you have a reason, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Charlotte told him.

Ichika smiled a small smile.

"You're right. Now, while this is comfortable, and your newfound possessive side isn't entirely unwelcome, could you please leave while I change?"

Charlotte pouted slightly before smiling radiantly and leaving the room. As the door closed, Ichika received a text message.

_**From: Chifuyu-nee**_

_**You owe me. Big. Now get your ass out of bed and make our guests breakfast for five. I'll be down when you call.**_

Ichika laughed nervously to himself and got dressed into a pair of dark green shorts and a bright orange t-shirt before heading downstairs, where Charlotte and Ran were sitting across from each other, glaring while Dan was next to his sister, looking nervous.

"I'm guessing that none of you have eaten yet?" Ichika asked.

Charlotte turned and looked at him, eyes narrowed. Ichika winced. Dan laughed nervously and Ran looked confused.

"I didn't think it'd be this bad." Charlotte sighed shaking her head and looking away.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Ichika asked, confused. Ran whispered in her brother's ear, and he nodded to her.

"Ichika, you look like a ripe pumpkin." Charlotte moaned, distressed.

Ichika sighed, knowing the argument was over before it had begun, and looked at Charlotte resignedly.

"What colors, then?"

"Dark blue. If not, put on a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans."

Ichika nodded and trudged back up the stairs.

"Wow, I've never seen anyone besides his sister get Ichika to change their mind so easily." Dan observed.

"I think I need to talk to Orimura-sensei about removing some clothes from his wardrobe. He shouldn't even _have_ a bright orange shirt." Charlotte shook her head.

Ran nodded in agreement before remembering that she's not supposed to get along with Charlotte and settling back in to glare at her.

"Nii, is she why you fought me more than usual for coming here?"

Dan winced, then said,

"Yes, she's Ichika's..."

"And I'm guessing that Ichika-san wanted to introduce you two because he was trying some misguided attempt to be polite to me, and was going to have you tell me about how you met his girlfriend?" Dan winced then nodded.

"Somehow, I don't feel as offended as I probably should."

Dan and Charlotte's jaws both dropped to the floor.

"I really should have expected it be like this after Rin-san and just moved on, but oh well."

Ichika walked down, having heard the last bit.

"I am sorry, Ran-chan, but I _am_ going to have to have you leave a bit after breakfast. There are a few videos you can see, but after that I need to talk with Dan and Char."

"Okay, that's fine. Just... let the next person that has a crush on you about your girlfriend sooner, okay?" Ran asked.

_How come I feel like an utter bastard, even though I didn't even _do_ anything?_

"Well," Ichika began with false sincerity, "Who wants pancakes?"

XXXXXXXX

After breakfast

Chifuyu had, in fact, joined them for breakfast but left shortly after telling Ichika that she was going to set a few things up. She texted Ichika that Dan was allowed to see all of the footage and the DVD that she gave him had all of his battles on it. She also told him, in no unspecific terms, that Ran wasn't to see any of his battles later than the one against Laura. And so, Ichika held on to the remote while they were watching so that he could skip over the Golem visiting his battle with Rin and pause it and send Ran out before Laura went berserk.

While Dan watched Ichika's battle with Cecilia, he asked,

"Are you sure that you'd only been piloting for a week at that point?"

Ichika laughed.

"I spent most of the fight running away and you're asking me _that_?"

"Okay then, what did she do to piss you off so much?"

"She was being an rich twit. And she insulted my gender and country. I had already given up on not standing out by that point, so I stopped deliberately making mistakes on tests. Shortly before the match I found out a few things, so I decided to be more polite, though."

"Hey, could you help me with my homework, Ichika-san?" Ran interrupted.

"Sorry, Ran-chan, but that's a little to intimate for my tastes. I won't do it with your brother, either. That's only for when I'm _trying_ to make people think that I swing that way." Ichika shot a sly smile at Charlotte.

Charlotte laughed at that, while Dan and Ran looked at each other, confused.

"I'll tell you later, Dan."

After Charlotte saw the end of the battle, she observed,

"So you _had_ done that before! I thought that you were surprisingly comfortable with spinning like that..." Ichika merely nodded as they went on to the match with Rin, which included the pre-fight argument.

During the argument, Ran cheered before quieting for the fight.

"Ichika-san, how did you get those flying things to work that way, or even on your IS?" Ran asked confusedly.

"It's classified information at the moment."

Ran pouted slightly before continuing to watch. She was slightly confused when Ichika skipped over to the match with Laura, but otherwise wasn't too bothered.

"This was a team match, huh? So this is where you two met. Why is Dunois-san dressed like a boy, though?" Ran asked, with Dan was nodding in agreement.

"Because her father's an asshole." Ichika stated bluntly, and they continued watching.

After the end of the first part, where Ichika paused it, Ran asked,

"What did she say to you?"

While at the same time, a laughing Dan asked,

"This is my boomstick? _Seriously_?"

"Ran-chan, you don't want to know. Dan, yes. I thought it would be fun to do at the time. I was wrong."

At some point, Charlotte had grabbed Ichika's arm and so when Ichika tried to stand up, he fell back down.

"Okay, Ran-chan, could you please leave? There are some things I need to discuss with Dan and Char." Ichika stated.

"But-" She protested.

"I didn't invite you here for a reason. Now, I'm politely asking you to leave."

Ran sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to win this, and walked back to her house next door.

"Right then, let's watch the rest." Ichika stated.

Ichika restarted the DVD and they watched the entirety of his match with Rin as well as the golem, which Dan thought looked awesome. Ichika's full match with Laura followed that, which Dan didn't really have any particular comments on.

Ichika paused the video.

"Okay, there's something that I want to explain about this one, since it wasn't a single school tournament."

Dan turned to look at Ichika.

"We were at the seaside school when-"

"Wait, you're telling me that the IS Academy has a week long vacation where everyone goes to the beach and wears swimsuits?" Dan asked, hopefully.

"...Yes."

"To be fair, his taste in swimsuits was terrible. You should've seen what he wanted before I stopped him..." Charlotte pointed out.

"Ichika, you lucky bastard."

"Shut up. Do you know how many of those women tried to touch me? I _still_ have bodyguards, and now I have them for outside the school, too."

"Outside?" Dan asked.

"You'll see why in a minute. Anyway, so these were part of a rather large evil organization that-"

"YOU'RE FIGHTING AN EVIL ORGANIZATION?" Dan shouted.

Ichika sighed.

"Dan, can you please just save all of these questions until after you see this? Anyway, when Tabane-nee's sister was trying out her new IS, we received a message that there were enemy ISs in the sky above the Pacific, and that they had just razed an American military base in Hawaii. Our objective was to find out their abilities, and if they were weak enough, take them out ourselves. To give you an idea of how it went, this was the day when I called you late at night. Now, let's watch this."

When Ichika got electrocuted in the video, Dan turned to him with a questioning look. Ichika mouthed 'I'll tell you later' and went back to watching.

At the end of the video, Ichika had his head in his hands, Charlotte was looking at him with a look that Ichika was pretty sure he either really did or really didn't want to recognize, and Dan looked at Ichika like he was in the presence of a superhero.

"Okay, two things. Firstly, I can see why you said that it was a shitty day. Seriously, though, you guys took out an enemy force that destroyed an American military base _on your own_. Why the hell are you looking so depressed?"

"Because I just realized why the girls in the bus on the drive here were looking at me, and to a lesser extent, Char, Cecilia-san, Mädchen and Rin-san, in complete and utter awe. I'm going to have to have my ass soundly kicked by somebody that they all know is incredibly skilled if I want them to think that I'm anything other than completely and utterly unbeatable, but I don't want to go to the only person that I'm absolutely certain could beat me because I fear what she'll do to me when I lose..."

"Right, now, why did getting electrocuted knock you out like that?"

Ichika turned to Dan.

"Dan, these eyes aren't biological. They're built using IS cores as a base. All of the rest, I wanted to tell both of you together, for some reasons that you're about to find out. Some of this is what has happened to me, some of this is what I've gathered from calling a few people."

Dan paled.

XXXXXXXX

Five years ago

Former Orimura Household

"Nee-san, Madoka, breakfast!" Ichika called.

"Coming, Ichika-niichan!" Madoka called back.

"Come now, Chifuyu-neesama, you need to get up. Ichika-niichan is calling you. Your coach is coming in a half an hour!" Madoka yelled from outside Chifuyu's room.

"Gaaahhh... Coming, Ichika! Give me a second to get dressed..." Chifuyu called down.

Ichika sighed and finished breakfast just as his sisters ran down from the second floor for food.

"Nee-san, are you ready to win today?" Ichika asked.

"Always."

"Who do you think is going to be your biggest challenge in these last two matches?" Madoka asked.

"Well, Iris-san has always been a very strong opponent, but I'm not entirely sure." Chifuyu replied.

"Hurry and eat, everyone." Urged Ichika,

"Nee-san's boss is going to be here soon and Tabane-nee called. She's taking us to the tournament with her."

"Of course she is. Would you honestly expect me to let anybody else take you?" Chifuyu asked.

"Matsuda-san." Ichika and Madoka told her at the same time before looking at each other and laughing.

After they finished eating, Chifuyu made sure that she was packed and then got herself ready. Just as Chifuyu closed her bag, there was a knock on the door and Chifuyu's coach was waiting for her.

"Chifuyu-kun, are you ready to show the world just _who_ the true Brünhilde is?"

"It's too early in the morning for me to answer that. Let me get back to you." Chifuyu replied. Turning to her twin siblings, she said,

"Be safe, you two. Tabane will probably be here in a half-hour, so if you're ready, you can watch TV until she comes."

"Okay!" Ichika and Madoka both responded.

_I want to watch Gundam. Madoka wants to watch Pretty Cure. She's going to be a Magical Girl IS Pilot when she grows up, after all. I'm not just going to let her think otherwise. Mom and Dad wouldn't have._

_But they're not coming back, and for some reason, Madoka hasn't figured that out yet. That's fine. I'll protect her. That's what older brothers _do_, after all._

_I'm the Man of the House, and I'll take care of both of my hopeless sisters. Madoka can be innocent as long as she wants to- she's my twin, my other half, almost, and I can't just let anything bad happen to her. Ever since that day Nee-san cried, that's what I have sworn to do._

_Protect Madoka, and become somebody strong enough, good enough, respected enough, that I can proudly say that I'm a member of the Orimura family. As the little brother of Chifuyu Orimura, first Brünhilde and great man in my own right. That's my dream._

_Even if it means telling little lies, here and there, now and then, so that Madoka can cling to her dream, I'll do that with no hesitation. Because she's my little sister._

_I suppose I'll just have to resign myself to watching some Pretty Cure. She'll let me watch some Gundam eventually, anyway. Tabane-nee will be here eventually, after all._

Which Tabane did, about one-and-three-quarters episodes later. She opened the door with cries of 'Ikkun, Macchan!' only to be greeted by silence as the children engrossed themselves in the TV. Tabane came up behind them to watch and as she did, Ichika turned to face her and made a shushing sound with his finger before pointing at Madoka, who, despite having seen the episode at _least_ three times by then, was gripping the edge of her seat and cheering and booing in all of the right places. Tabane silently watched until after the ending credits rolled, and then she called,

"Alright, you two. Time to get going, and boy do I have a treat for you! Bring you necklaces."

Ichika and Madoka nodded excitedly, ran to their room to get their necklaces, and ran back down. Their necklaces were a matching yin-yang that was split in the center, with Ichika wearing the yin half and Madoka wearing the yang.

Tabane hustled them into her limo and it sped away.

When they got out, Tabane was grinning like she had just gotten some really really good candy, or at least, that's what Ichika thought it was. However, he understood when he stepped out of the limo and into abandoned warehouse.

He really felt bad for Tabane. She wouldn't really get that he didn't want to see them anymore, she wasn't the one abandoned by her parents. Ichika looked over to Madoka, and they both pocketed their necklaces.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Madoka asked. Before she could run to them, Ichika grabbed her shoulder, holding Madoka in place. Before he could say anything, however, Mr. and Mrs. Orimura came running to them.

"Ichika-kun! Madoka-chan! I missed you so much!" Mrs. Orimura called as she caught them in an embrace.

"Yes, Akemi. Now, can we get to the important part?" Mr. Orimura asked, as he smiled.

"You'll have plenty of time to catch up later." He finished.

"You're right, darling. Now, children, your Papa is going to ask you some very important questions. I want you to answer them honestly."

"Ichika. What is your dream for the future?"

"I want to be a man worthy of his sisters." Ichika replied instantly and proudly.

"How?"

"I want to protect Madoka from everything. I want to become somebody special enough to be worthy of relation to Nee-san." Ichika replied.

"What about Mama and Papa?" His dad asked him.

Ichika cocked his head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

Mr. Orimura looked angry.

"You know what I mean."

Ichika glared back.

"No, I don't. I don't have any parents now, Nee-san is my Mama now."

"Madoka," Mr. Orimura began, trying to keep his voice steady, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Madoka beamed.

"I want to be a Magical Girl IS Pilot to make Mommy and Daddy happy with me! Will you come home with us now? I bet that Chifuyu-neesama will be so happy to see you!" Madoka cried. As Madoka said her dream, Ichika hunched his head down farther and farther, his expression darkening considerably.

Mr. Orimura patted Madoka's head.

"That's a Good Girl." He said. He snapped his fingers, and the limo's doors opened. Madoka and Mrs. Orimura both went in. Ichika tried to follow his sister, but Mr. Orimura put a hand on Ichika's shoulder. Behind him, Tabane's face started to darken.

"No, Ichika. You've been a Bad Boy. You need to be _punished _and shown who the people who really care about you are." Mr. Orimura voice was threatening now. He snapped his fingers, and a group of men in black suits came and picked Ichika up, dragging him into the warehouse.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Tabane asked, panicking. This was _not_ going as they told her it would.

Mr. Orimura turned to regard her with narrowed eyes and an extremely low, cold voice.

"What does it look like? I'm punishing a naughty child." Mr. Orimura snapped his fingers.

Tabane fell unconscious from a taser she hadn't noticed. Ichika heard her yelp and hit the ground.

Mr. Orimura got in the car and closed the door.

"Daddy, what's happening to Ichika-niichan?"

"He's been a Bad Boy, so we're punishing him. He'll be in a car behind us." Mr. Orimura turned to driver.

"Drive." He commanded, and the limo sped away.

Inside the warehouse, one of the men sat Ichika down roughly and asked him a question. Ichika's mind was reeling, so he didn't hear.

"Oy, brat. He asked you a question." One of the men, fat with a black ponytail, barked.

Ichika looked at the man with dead eyes.

"What?" He asked flatly.

"I asked you who the person who takes care of you is." A different, bald man asked.

"Nee-san." He replied flatly.

Baldie made a noise of disgust and shook his head.

"Who is the person who takes care of you?" Baldie repeated, a bit more forcefully.

"Nee-san."

Baldie punched Ichika in the stomach. Ichika bit back a cry as tears came out of his eyes.

"Who are the people who care most about you?"

"Nee-san, Madoka, and Tabane-nee." Ichika replied easily.

The man made a similar noise to before.

"Who are the people who care most about you?"

"Nee-san, Madoka and Tabane-nee."

Baldie kicked Ichika in an arm.

"Who do you love most?" He asked as he brandished a knife.

"My sisters." Ichika replied easily.

He slashed into Ichika's right shoulder. Ichika screamed, then calmed his breathing quickly after.

"Who. Do. You. Love. Most." Baldie demanded.

"My sisters!" Ichika received a similar cut on his left shoulder.

"WHO DO YOU LOVE MOST?" Baldie screamed.

"I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU, DAMMIT!" Ichika replied.

The man snorted and put away the knife.

"I'll give you a half-hour to rethink your answers." He said.

He flipped open a cell phone and some heavily armed guards soon appeared to guard the warehouse. He then sat down and smoked a cigarette while Ichika quietly wept.

After a half-hour of stewing in silence, Baldie stood and came back to Ichika.

"What is your answer?"

"I've already told you." Ichika spat out.

"Fine, then. Who, in the entire world, do you think loves you the most?" Baldie asked. Ichika actually thought for a moment before answering.

"Nee-san. Maybe Madoka."

"Wrong!" He pushed Ichika down onto his stomach, held both of Ichika's wrists with his left hand, took out his knife, and made a pair of diagonal scratches on Ichika's upper back. Ichika fought the confinement, making the injuries worse than they could have been.

"Your mother loves you most." Baldie whispered into Ichika's ear.

"That... woman... isn't... my... mother..." Ichika spat out.

"Then who is?"

"Nee-san."

Baldie laughed a short, evil bark before speaking.

"Hold him down." Baldie ordered.

"Then, little boy, you're never seeing her again." He sneered.

He jerked Ichika's head back and brandished his knife.

XXXXXXXX

Some time later

Ichika wasn't really sure how long he'd been here by now. It could have been a few minutes, it could have been a few days. He wasn't sure. He hadn't eaten anything yet, and he knew he was hungry.

He always told them an answer that they didn't want to hear, but at least they weren't hitting him anymore.

That was good. He just wanted to know why his face feels so wet, and why crying stings, and why he couldn't see anything.

It was cold. So, so cold. Ichika was shivering constantly. Someone tossed a wool blanket on him, but that just hurt him more. All he could do was sob and call for his sister, hoping that she might come.

Maybe, just maybe, his sister could come, save Madoka and get him away from the bad guys. And then, she'd smile and tell him he did a good job for protecting his little sister and standing up to the bad guys, and then they'd all go home and everyone would be happy again.

However, a little part of Ichika, the same part that realized his parents were never coming home and that he had protect Madoka, was realizing that his older sister probably wasn't coming to get him. After all, how could she know about him being here? Tabane-nee brought him here on her own. She's probably still unconscious if they hadn't done anything to her yet.

Even if she was conscious by now, why would she want to risk herself for Ichika in the first place? It's not like she's family, and she's a very important person, like Nee-san. Like what Ichika wants to be.

But, Ichika thought, if standing out results in him becoming like this, then maybe it's better to keep quiet and push everyone away from you until you're strong enough and they think they know you well enough that they'll leave you alone.

Maybe that's what it is? Maybe that's what he did wrong... He'll have to think about this, if he gets out alive.

Ichika curled up on himself and tried to rock himself to comfort. He wasn't going to sleep, it hurt too much. So he waited. He had no idea for how long, he just knew that he was going to wait for somebody to come for him.

Later, he heard screams and swearing outside the building, followed by gunshots and a horrifying, bestial roar.

Shortly after, he heard the sounds of metal ripping, then more gunshots, as he felt the cool breeze on his body.

"Ichika? Madoka?" Chifuyu asked.

Ichika, between sobs, managed to say,

"Nee-san?"

"Ichika?" Chifuyu called hysterically. Ichika finally let out a loud wail, and felt Chifuyu next to him, sooner than he had anticipated.

"Nee-san? They took Madoka... She's a Good Girl, so they took her... I'm not good... I'm bad, because I love you more than I loved Mom and Dad."

"Ichika?" Chifuyu cried, then screamed as she took him in her arms, horror wracking every sound that she made and the slightest motions of her body.

"Nee-san, are you crying? I can't tell... Nee-san, I can't see... Nee-san, take me away. It hurts, take me away..."

Chifuyu took Ichika up in her arms and flew off to the hospital. Ichika knew that she was in her IS. He wasn't sure about how she had found to him, though. He doubted that her match was over.

XXXXXXXX

Hospital

When a young woman famous for her cold demeanor and impatience, as well as overall lack of emotions beyond 'annoyed,' 'angry,' and occasionally 'proud' comes bursting into your emergency room carrying a child that resembles her enough to be family, in complete hysterics and covered in blood, you have them seen pretty quickly.

Ichika was rushed to a surgery room, and Chifuyu was forced to sit in a private waiting room, where a couple of minutes later, a man from the police department and a man with short blue hair in his mid-forties came in.

"Orimura-san, I am Yamahara with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."

Chifuyu looked away.

"Orimura-san, I wish we could meet on better terms, but I need to ask you a few questions." The police officer said.

"Who did this to your brother?"

Chifuyu looked up at him.

"Men from an organization. They said they were with 'Phantom Task' when I was saving him. Also, our parents were there. Something about punishing him for being a Bad Boy." Chifuyu told him flatly. Her eyes were completely dull and empty.

"And where are they now?" The officer asked gently.

"Who? The men? Dead. I killed them. My parents? They were long-gone. I got the name of their group from one of the men who is probably less heavily injured than the others. I didn't think that it would be this bad." Chifuyu said, putting her head in her hands. The officer gasped.

"Orimura-san, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to-"

The blue-haired man put his hand on the police officer's shoulder.

"No, you aren't. My family has been dealing with that group for two generations. I have the authority to have these charges dropped, and I will. I guess you aren't aware, but my group has an agreement with Interpol. All confirmed adult members of Phantom Task are Kill On Sight. Besides that, the rescue was technically a military operation with the German army. We don't punish soldiers. Today, she's done us a favor. Let's leave. She has enough to worry about."

The police officer looked at the middle-aged man, then back at Chifuyu. He bowed, then left the building.

"One last question, Orimura-san." The middle-aged man began,

"What happened to your little sister?"

Chifuyu looked at him.

"Those bastards took her."

The man nodded and stepped out politely.

For the second time in her life, Chifuyu curled in a ball and cried. After around four hours, a nurse came in.

"Orimura-san, your brother has been moved to a private room. He'll be staying here for a while, but his life is no longer be in danger." The nurse paused.

"And?" Chifuyu asked, the weight of the day apparent in her voice.

"The cuts on his shoulders and back aren't going scar. Miraculously, they won't cause any nerve damage and won't impair his motion, but..."

"But?"

"I-I'm afraid that your brother is never going to see anything again. His eyeballs were both completely destroyed. The nerves themselves are fine, somehow." The nurse said, shaking her head sadly.

"I understand..."

"I'll just leave the paperwork here. You'll need to fill it out within the next 20 hours or so."

Chifuyu vaguely heard the door closing and the drop of a clipboard, but didn't pay any real attention to it. A few minutes later, Chifuyu picked up the clipboard and walked over to Ichika's room. She took a seat, rested her head on her arms, and settled in, watching her brother.

At dawn, Tabane came in beside her, eyes red and puffy.

"Go away, Tabane."

"Chi-chan, you need to get something to eat and sleep." Tabane told her in a much more serious voice than normal.

Chifuyu glared at Tabane.

"And it's your fault that I even need either of those things right now. What do you _want_, Tabane? You've already taken away my sister from me, do you want my brother, too?"

"I was the one who brought them there, true. But, I was also the one who told the German army where they were."

"Why?" Chifuyu asked.

"Because as far as I knew, I was reuniting a pair of small children that missed their parents and hadn't seen them in a long time with their parents, not separating one from her sister and the other from his vision."

Chifuyu looked back at Ichika.

"I'm not leaving until he knows that I'm here."

Tabane sighed.

"When you're ready, I think I can help." Tabane told her as she left the room.

Chifuyu vaguely nodded before looking back at her brother. She had water to drink and filled out the paperwork, but for the next two days, she didn't eat anything. The nurses were worried that they were going to have to check Chifuyu into the hospital as well. However, on the third day,

"Nee-san?" Ichika asked.

Chifuyu squeezed Ichika's hand.

"What is it, Ichika?"

"Nee-san, what's wrong? Why does everything hurt, Nee-san?"

Chifuyu grabbed the call button and pressed it hard.

"Ichika, don't worry. I'll make it all better."

"I'm so glad that you came to visit me, even though it's so late at night, Nee-san. I'm so glad that you are my sister. I'm not sure what I'd do if I were an only child."

"Ichika..." Chifuyu choked.

"Nee-san, I'm going to sleep a bit. I'll see you soon, right?"

Chifuyu sobbed a bit.

"Of course you will, Ichika. Of course you will." She told him.

The doctors came in to examine Ichika, and Chifuyu quietly slipped away.

"Tabane." She began, staring coldly at the woman across from her.

"Yes, Chi-chan?"

"What can you do to help?" Chifuyu asked flatly.

"I can make him able to see again. Eyes based off of the IS cores. I already have a preliminary design in place and should have experimental confirmation shortly to determine whether or not they'll work properly."

"Do it." Chifuyu spat,

"And afterwords, I don't want to see you or hear from you. If you need to talk to me, send Matsuda."

"Thank you for letting me do this, Chi-chan." Tabane said as she walked away.

"...It's the least you could do..." Chifuyu mumbled.

Ichika spent the following days drifting in and out of consciousness. Tabane, after finishing the eyes, worked with the doctors in the surgery. Chifuyu spent the mornings ridding their house of all traces of Madoka's and their parent's existence and hunting for a new house to move in to.

After the surgery, realizing some inconsistencies in his memories of all the time before the kidnapping, Ichika decided that his memory could no longer be trusted, and began to write in a diary to keep the memories in place. As he did this, he was silently planning on becoming somebody worthy of his wonderful, wonderful sister. They moved to a new neighborhood shortly after Ichika's surgery, and Chifuyu left to teach in Germany for a year about six months after that. Chifuyu left him under the care of their new neighbors.

XXXXXXXX

Present day

Orimura household

Ichika wasn't sure at what point in the story he had started crying. Nor was he sure about when Charlotte started hugging him, or when he hunched over in her shoulder and hugged her back, gripping into her back.

Dan sat silently, still dazed, and waited a minute before standing, patting Ichika on the back and heading home, with an acknowledging nod to Charlotte. Ichika gave Dan a sort of farewell-ish grunt.

Ichika wasn't sure how much time passed with Charlotte. All that he knew was that it was a while. Eventually, though, Charlotte managed to choke out,

"Why didn't you tell anybody sooner?"

"Because I didn't want people to look at me and say, 'Oh look, that guy was kidnapped when he was ten and treated terribly and his twin was taken from him.' I want people to judge me by who I am, not by what has happened to me. Because the only people I want to really know me are the people who know me- the people I trust."

Charlotte hugged him a little tighter and started rubbing the back of his head, softly wiping her eyes in his hair.

_And I trust you, Char. More than anyone else, I trust you._

_No, more than that. I love you. And I think that you know that._

Ichika walked Charlotte back to the monorail that lead to the Academy. Their walk was slow and silent, they were simply enjoying each other's company. When they arrived at the monorail, Ichika whispered into her ear,

"I love you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved her face to the side a little and kissed him in response. After about a minute, she pulled back, smiling and blushing, with her hands behind her back.

"I already know that, silly." She told him as she went into the monorail.

XXXXXXXX

_**Chifuyu**_

That evening

At her favorite bar

Chifuyu had had no trouble getting an interview with IS International Weekly for Ichika. Every IS magazine had been wanting one anyway, and that was before Ichika led a group of his classmates in aiding the evacuation of a crowded mall.

There was, after all, a reason that he hadn't left his house much lately.

Chifuyu had managed to negotiate specific terms, as well. For this interview, the interviewer was not to know who they were going to interview in advance. She hoped it would help avoid some of the more awkward questions.

And now, this was past, and Chifuyu was just waiting at the bar for her drinking buddy to show up. After what seemed like far too long, Yamada walked into the bar and sat herself down next to Chifuyu, Chifuyu waved to the bartender and asked for something strong.

"What happened?" The bartender asked.

Chifuyu glared at him.

"My brother, eight years my junior, now has more romantic experience than I do." Chifuyu stated despondently.

The bartender thought for a moment, then said,

"First round's on the house." And walked away.

Yamada looked at Chifuyu, horrified.

Chifuyu stared back.

"Despite my appearance, I have never once had a boyfriend. My little brother now has a girlfriend."

Yamada immediately stopped talking. They sat in silence, waiting for their drinks to arrive. After the bartender walked away, Yamada broke the silence with,

"Who?"

"Who do you think?" Chifuyu replied flatly.

"Dunois-san?" Yamada asked incredulously.

"Who else?"

"And you're fine with it, Orimura-sensei?"

"I guess. My brother's been through enough shit in his life, and his overall view still makes me worry." Chifuyu laughed bitterly.

"How so?" Yamada asked as Chifuyu took another sip.

"Did you know that when I was his age, our parents just up and left after I won the Mondo Grosso? No letter, no words from them, nothing. I haven't seen either of them since. I had myself emancipated, so that I could take care of my family. It wasn't like anyone was going to try much with me, anyway. I had too much to do to bother with that."

"Orimura-sensei, that's horrible..." Yamada gasped.

"Yes, well. That's life, Yamada-kun. And now my brother has a girlfriend, while my first kiss was taken by said girlfriend's asshole of a father."

"But..."

"They're French."

"Ah." Yamada stated dumbly and beckoned for another round.

A good number of drinks later, Chifuyu leaned over to Yamada,

"Heeey, Yamada-kun..."

"Yes, Orimura-sensei?"

"Have I done a good job with my brother?" Chifuyu slurred.

"Ahh..."

"You don't know? I don't either. I just don't know anymore, you know? I mean, for a while I was actually worried that he was like, asexual or something, but now..." Chifuyu faded off.

"Ah... Barkeep!" Yamada called.

"Yes, Yamada-san?" The bartender asked.

"I'm taking Orimura-sensei home. Please put it on our tab."

The bartender bowed.

"Of course."

Yamada managed to convince Chifuyu to walk with her to Yamada's car.

Then, Yamada realized that she didn't know where Chifuyu's house was.

"Umm... Orimura-sensei?"

"Caaalll Asamiyaaa..." Chifuyu slurred, fumbling with her phone.

"Oookaay..." Yamada said.

Yamada called Asamiya, who said that she'd be there shortly and to keep Chifuyu from wandering off. Yamada's solution to this was to lock the car's doors, because Chifuyu apparently loses roughly 50 points of IQ when she's really, really drunk.

Asamiya arrived shortly to retrieve Chifuyu and Yamada went home.

Ichika was well on his way to making dinner when he heard a knock on the door, opening it to see his sister hanging off of Asamiya's shoulder.

_Worse than usual. Wonder what happened to her..._

He directed Asamiya to Chifuyu's chair and Chifuyu melted onto it.

"Interview tomorrow at 1. Wear the tux." Asamiya told him before exiting the house.

Ichika sighed and finished making dinner.

Later, he would help Chifuyu to her room.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Right, that's the end of that. Had to split this one for the sake of my editor's sanity.

Anyway, welcome to part 2! Don't expect all of the chapters to be as long as even this split version of the chapter


	15. Part 2, Chapter 2: Shopping

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means point-of-view character's thoughts

AN: And here we are! Due to last week's mix-up, you may have missed the chapter, so go read that first if you haven't already.

XXXXXXXX

**Part 2, Chapter 2: Shopping**

XXXXXXXX

Tuesday morning

Orimura household

Ichika had prepared coffee for his sister, something that she always needed when she was hung over. Breakfast was simple affair of eggs and toast, but he knew that these were usually good at getting rid of her hangover fast enough that she could function well enough for the interview.

Chifuyu came down a bit later, stumbling, muttering about her head and gripping it in her hands. Ichika gave her coffee then finished breakfast and served it. After cleaning the dishes, he gave her a shoulder massage while she banished the last of her hangover. Once she was satisfied that it was gone, she sent Ichika to his room to get changed. After three tries on his part, she gave up, went into his room and picked out his clothing, down to his underwear. She was making him wear the suit that he wore to the Ball, without the bunny pin. Ichika resolved to do as much that he could to make sure that, at the very least, she would never have to pick out his underwear again. He wasn't eight anymore.

He received a call from Charlotte, but had to say that sadly, he wasn't really able to go on a date that day, as he had a prior engagement that Chifuyu had made him promise to do.

After Charlotte had extracted a promise from him to go the mall on Friday, this time hopefully without any unlucky things happening, Ichika went downstairs. Chifuyu dragged him into their car. Once they were in and Asamiya was driving, Chifuyu began,

"Okay, so there will be a few questions that you can expect to be asked."

_I figured that._

"What should I know is coming?"

"They will ask you how you have been doing in the Academy. Lie. Say that your grades are above-average and that you've been working harder than almost everyone to become a better pilot. If you say that, then if your real grades somehow get out, with any luck it'll just look like you were trying not to look too superhuman." Chifuyu told him.

"Is there anything I should know about that disk? Its ready availability concerns me."

Chifuyu grimaced.

"Yeah, Sarashiki-dono seems to be trying to sell the damned things, likely putting them together at the end of your school year, in order to get some more funding for the school."

"That's... concerning. Is there anything that the organizations and countries that are represented in the video want to do to stop her?"

Chifuyu laughed bitterly.

"They want a cut of the profits, and in exchange, they'll sell the videos in their own countries."

"That's stupid."

"Yes, I know. Don't mention the videos, if at all possible. One more thing. The interviewer wasn't told of who they were going to be talking to today, so most of their questions will be from the top of their head."

_That sounds a little stupid to me, but fine._

They entered from a back entrance for special interviewees. Chifuyu and Ichika were very quickly shown to a special room high up in the building, where a tall woman with long brown hair was waiting for them. When they entered, she had an expression of pure shock on her face.

"I'm interviewing _you_?" She asked incredulously.

"Aren't you a high school student? Are you even legally allowed to participate in an interview?" She continued.

Ichika made a gesture to Chifuyu.

"Legal guardian." He stated flatly.

The reporter coughed into her hand before speaking.

"Sorry, just a bit of a shock, Orimura-kun. I'm Noriko Mayuzami, and I'll be your interviewer today."

Ichika shook her hand.

"Well, you already know who I am. Say, Mayuzami-san, you wouldn't happen to have a younger sister in IS Academy, would you?"

"What did Kaoruko do this time?"

"Tried to interview me. This was in my third week of school."

Noriko laughed.

"What did you do?"

"Told her she got five questions. Gave her ambiguous answers. Hopefully, I won't need to do too many of those with you." Ichika smiled.

Noriko blushed lightly.

_Oh goddammit. Why does this always happen?_

"So, Orimura-kun, let's get started." Noriko began. She whipped a pen and notebook out of her pockets.

Ichika nodded.

"We'll start off light. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Ichika laughed.

_Should have expected that one._

"Yes, I do. No, I won't tell you who she is. Yes, I do love her and no, I don't plan on breaking up with her any time soon. Next question."

Chifuyu cast Ichika a warning glare.

Noriko snorted a little as she wrote this down.

"Alright, let's take a step back. What is it like being the only man in the world who can pilot an IS?" Noriko began.

_Simple enough._

"Honestly? Kind of scary. It's like, where am I going to go after I graduate from the Academy, you know? I mean, I've started so much later, and being a professional just doesn't appeal to me..."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there was so much that I wanted to try to do, so many different things I wanted to study, and now, now if I were to try that I would be asked, 'Oh, Orimura-kun, why aren't you an IS pilot?' or 'Orimura-kun, shouldn't you go work for the government?' None of my desires lined up with being an IS pilot. I didn't ask for it, I was just curious about what an IS felt like."

"How did you discover that you could pilot an IS?"

Ichika nodded.

"Sure. The high school that I was taking entrance exams for was having its exams in the same building as the Academy was. I managed to get lost and wander into a room with an IS. I touched it the IS, wanting to feel them for once and look at the tool that brought my sister to fame, and the IS actually activated. I really just wanted to feel it, you see."

"Huh... So, what did you want to do, Orimura-kun?"

Ichika smiled wistfully. Noriko quickly scribbled something down.

"I wanted to be a scientist. Study the sky, discover more about what was waiting for us there. Did you know that IS' were originally meant for space exploration? I wanted to be able to enable that. Alternatively, I wanted to use IS technology to help people."

Noriko nodded.

"Is there any validity to the rumors that you are close family friends with Tabane Shinonono?"

Ichika's face betrayed no emotion, but a playful smile drew across his face. Ichika steepled his fingers.

"Have you ever read _Alice in Wonderland_?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because, in this world, as in Alice's world," Ichika began, leaning closer,

"There are some questions that when you ask them, they are like jumping down the rabbit hole. Tell me, do _you_ want to jump down the rabbit hole?"

Noriko sighed and continued.

"Where are your parents, anyway?" Noriko asked.

Chifuyu got angry. Ichika winced and his face hardened.

"We don't talk about _those_ people any more. I don't have any family besides my sister. End of discussion."

Noriko nodded.

"What is it like, being the younger brother of Chifuyu Orimura?"

"Stressful." Ichika began, looking away from Chifuyu.

"I don't want to let her down. With her as my sister, it really makes me want to something special, and it worries me that I can't. It still kind of surprises me just how many people look up to her."

Noriko laughed and went on.

"Of course. She was the _first_ winner. She inspired a generation, beating world-class opponents using only a sword."

Noriko turned the page in her notebook.

"Now, what's it like being the only man at IS Academy?" Noriko asked.

Ichika shuddered involuntarily.

"Scary. When I first transferred there, I knew almost nobody. And I was the only male, and I _swear_ that the President picks on me because she can."

Noriko scribbled again.

"Isn't your sister your homeroom teacher?"

"Yes, and that's the only reason I even went there. I don't like strangers, you see. I really didn't like the idea of going there, but Orimura-sensei is very stern about not putting up with that. Sadly, the Student Council President rules with an iron fist, and even the teachers can only do so much."

"So you don't think that she's biased to giving you good grades?"

Ichika shook his head.

"No. I'm pretty sure that she outsources all of my grading to the other teachers, and we don't talk about school much."

Chifuyu snorted.

"How good of a pilot are you?" Noriko asked.

Ichika thought for a moment.

_Better not tell her too much, this is going to be nationwide. At least._

"Decent. Middle of the class. Everyone in my class is very skilled, though, so it's kind of hard to tell."

"If you don't like it at IS Academy, why do you even stay there?"

"Because I can fly there." Ichika replied without hesitation, before he could stop himself.

Noriko looked slightly surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"Because in an IS, I'm free."

Noriko nodded to herself, frantically scribbling in her notebook.

"So, from what I've heard, you do have a personal IS. Can you tell me anything about its abilities?"

Ichika smiled wickedly.

"That's classified."

"So, that day in the mall, what made you decide to help with the evacuation efforts? What were you doing there, anyway?"

"I was going there with some of my friends, hanging out. When I noticed the suspicious people coming, I had my friends that couldn't defend themselves outside of an IS leave the building and prepared to try to do something to help the people there. We couldn't deploy our ISs; we didn't have approval."

Noriko nodded.

"Go on."

Ichika cast a glance at Chifuyu, who nodded imperceptibly.

"Well, Orimura-sensei was at the mall the same time as the rest of us, and she sent me a text on my phone giving us mobilization approval. As our homeroom teacher, she is one of the few people allowed to do that. With that, I used one of the abilities on my IS to create a smokescreen, and then my friends and I protected and evacuated the citizens."

"What happened after the power was cut?" Noriko asked.

"I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to tell you. I can say, however, that everyone got out alive and mostly uninjured."

Noriko nodded.

"What's your win/loss record at the Academy?" Noriko asked.

_Do you count destroyed golems as wins or not? Because if you do, I think it's something around 20/5. If not, 3/5-ish._

"Three wins, five losses. Not going to tell you how they went. Any more questions?"

"Not really. Do you have any closing comments for the readers?"

Ichika thought for a moment.

"Don't be afraid to push to become what you want to be. Don't let anyone tell you who you can't be, but listen to those who tell you what you can be. Who knows, they may be right."

Noriko wrote it down. She and Ichika stood.

"Thank you, Orimura-kun."

Ichika nodded and left the room. Just outside, he was stopped by one of the editors.

"Can we take a few pictures and put you on our cover?"

Ichika looked over to Chifuyu, who was giving him a look that told him that she didn't like it, but it was his call.

_Oh, why not? I'm already going to be recognized. This might even be fun._

Ichika sighed.

"Sure."

"Right this way, please."

Ichika followed the man to a room where they had a cameraman already set up. They took a few pictures of Ichika in various poses before settling on a picture of him looking at the camera adjusting his tie for the cover. They told him that the magazine would be published on Thursday. Ichika thought that was a little early, but he explained that it was going to be a rush order and that they actually already had everything ready.

Ichika still thought that this was a little unreasonable, but if they wanted to do it, he wasn't going to argue. Not really. He told them goodbye and headed back to his house.

Figuring that he didn't have anything better to do, he went into his room and connected his IS to his computer. Looking through his database, he was hunting for some new features that he could try attaching.

_Hmm... I don't really get how Fold-out Armor works, and I feel like asking Tabane-nee for help would be cheating. Besides, I've already got it on Yukihira and I'm not sure if I even need it on the rest of my IS, considering that I have a shield now._

_I don't really need a shield mode for my Hyouzan based off of Madoka's IS for the same reason. Fubuki can already do most of what she could, anyway. Then again, shield and whip or other combinations could be very frustrating. I think that I'll save trying for shields until a time comes when I can have multiple modes on my Hyouzan active simultaneously._

_The flamethrowers from the Great Arachne, while powerful, are much more anti-personnel than anti-IS. The slowing fluid, while nice, can only really work with a flamethrower or an ice cannon and I don't have access to an ice cannon._

_I might be able to add more guns to my IS based off of the golem designs, but do I really need to do that? I could probably use a combination of the golem designs and the presence of Impact Cannons on the wings of the Great Arachne to add extra weaponry to my wings._

_What about a railgun? That might not be a bad idea, either. No, Byakushiki doesn't actually like most ranged weaponry. I doubt that she would want me to attach anything beyond what I already have, especially because of the presence of Fubuki._

_Still can't believe that my IS, of all things, is sentient. Or at least has a will and desire to protect me. If that's even what the people in my vision represent. But what did the five-year-old versions of myself and Madoka represent?_

_Well, no point in reflecting about it now. I'm going to go practice my kendo. Maybe I could get Chifuyu-nee to help me._

Ichika got up and changed into his Kendogi and went to the dojo. Chifuyu saw him and followed.

They practiced for a couple of hours.

After they had gotten changed back into their regular clothes, Ichika approached Chifuyu.

"Chifuyu-nee, could I have my necklace back?"

Chifuyu sighed.

"Sure, I guess. I'll go get it for you."

Chifuyu went into her room and brought out Ichika's necklace shortly after. Ichika went into his room and locked the door. He gripped the necklace by its string tightly and pressed it to his forehead.

_Madoka..._

XXXXXXXX

Friday, 11 A.M.

The mall

Ichika figured that Charlotte would be wearing a school uniform. However, Ichika couldn't really go out in his, so he was wearing a pair of khakis and a green t-shirt, along with a pair of sunglasses. Ichika convinced Chifuyu to gel his hair back, so that he would be harder to recognize, and had colored contacts covering his eyes. Ichika checked his bank account before he left and concluded that he would be fine as long as Charlotte didn't decide to try to buy the entire mall.

_Yeah, doing a front cover article wasn't the best idea. Being well-recognized isn't fun. I tried going out yesterday. Terrible, terrible idea._

Ichika smiled to himself.

_I doubt that Char would mind if she learned that her dad's money is buying her this stuff. Probably the first set of girl's clothes ever bought for her with his money, anyway, the bastard._

_Well, I suppose it's technically the company's money, but I doubt that she would mind much either way. Not like I'm actually going to mention it. Working as Alice's Herald has been quite profitable anyway._

Ichika rode the bus to the mall, and if people figured out who he was, nobody said anything about it, and he was being ignored, so he figured that his disguise had done him some good. He sent Charlotte a text telling her that he was on his way, and he had taken some measures to keep himself from being recognized.

Ichika entered the mall, and saw Charlotte waiting for him. Going against Ichika's expectations, Charlotte was wearing a light blue one-piece dress. Her hair was tied back in a braid with a matching ribbon. Seeing him, she smiled and waved before coming to him.

"I barely recognized you!" She told him.

Ichika grinned.

"That was kind of the point, Char. You saw the interview, right? It's not like I can go around looking like normal after that. I've actually got green contacts on underneath the sunglasses, though they would probably look more than a little strange."

Charlotte pouted slightly.

"That's true, I suppose, but I still don't see why I can't just claim you before all of them..."

Ichika smiled and patted her head.

"Because I still haven't come up with a way to deal with your father. Come on now, I'm pretty sure that Dan won't stop by here, I know that Cecilia-san and Rin-san aren't here, and Mädchen isn't around. I don't think we have to worry about being interrupted today."

"What about _them_?" Charlotte asked.

"I think that they're going to be too busy bringing Houki-san into their chain of command, and they're going to have to take a bit of time to rebuild their golems, if they even can. Besides that, from what I've heard, they actually managed to kill one of the American Representative Candidates in Hawaii and steal the advanced prototype, plus they injured the actual Representative enough for her to have to retire. That's going to keep them busy for a while." Ichika laughed,

"I would be pretty pissed if they tried again today, though." He said.

Charlotte laughed nervously as well, then grabbed his arm and pointing at a clothing store.

"Let's go there first!" She said excitedly.

Ichika nodded.

"Just remember, the movie's at 1:15 and we'll need to get lunch."

Charlotte sighed.

"Right, right. Come on!"

Charlotte pulled Ichika's arm, and they went over to the store, where she only spent an hour. Following this, they went to a men's clothing store, where she picked him out a new wardrobe.

They worked their way down to the restaurant, where they had a pleasant lunch before heading out to the movie theatre.

"Why are you paying for everything?"

Ichika shrugged.

"You know the sale that I made to your Dad's company?" He asked.

Charlotte nodded.

"I make a five percent commission on every sale of that nature. The one that you saw was small." Ichika continued.

Charlotte shrunk slightly.

"Oh." She said in a small voice.

"Why don't you live in a huge mansion, then?"

Ichika laughed.

"Because that would raise too many questions, like where we got the money for the thing. I keep most of it in a separate account, just running a regular wage through to a personal account. I had a feeling that I'd need more, though, so I've been using the card that has my work account on it."

"Why didn't you mention it?"

"Because you didn't ask, and I didn't want to remind you that this is probably the first time your dad's money has been spent on you. Don't tell Chifuyu-nee I have that much, though. She thinks that Tabane-nee just pays me a flat rate."

Charlotte looked around before dragging him to darker hallway and kissing him furiously.

"No movie. Let's get more clothes." She told him.

Ichika smiled at her, then bowed.

"Of course, my lady."

Charlotte blushed lightly before walking to another clothing store, Ichika carrying the bags. After that, they went to a shoe store. And another. When Charlotte went to the restroom, Ichika found bench against a wall and collapsed into it.

_What is it with girls and shoes, anyway?_

And so, Ichika was sitting outside on a bench with their bags, waiting for Charlotte to come out of the restroom. Sighing, Ichika took off his sunglasses and ran his hand through his hair. A large, muscular, hispanic man with buzz-cut black hair and brown eyes, also holding many bags, sat down next to Ichika.

They both sat there, silently probing the other, before the man nodded at Ichika's bags and asked him,

"So, got dragged into shopping with your sister as well, huh?" He asked, in deep and heavily accented Japanese.

"No, my girlfriend took me shopping. I'm waiting for her to come out, now."

The man laughed.

"My sister took me with her. Told me it'd only be a couple of minutes, been here three hours."

"I have an older sister, eight years my senior. She used to take me with her when I was younger, before she figured out that I have no fashion sense. She then got angry at me and started lecturing me. She still does that sometimes, but I know that it's just because she cares."

Ichika smiled at the memories. The other man chuckled.

"Ah. My little sister is the only girl in the family. She brings me along the most often, since I'm the eldest and have the best-paying job, which means that it's easiest to sucker me into buying everything for her. Not like she isn't willing to blackmail me into doing it, either."

"Why do you, then, if you know she suckering you?"

The man grunted.

"Because she's my sister."

Ichika laughed.

"I can understand that."

Ichika and the man sat in silence for a bit longer. Ichika perked up when Charlotte walked out of the restroom, talking to another girl. Out of the corner of his eye, Ichika noticed the man next to him perking up, too.

The woman that Charlotte was talking to seemed to be about the same height as her, with dark skin and long, black hair. Ichika stood up, coincidentally at the same time as the man next to him, gathered his bags and walked to Charlotte and the girl that she was chatting with, hearing the man that he was talking to following him. When he got closer, he realized that the girl Charlotte was talking to was wearing three inch heels and had a rather well-developed figure, despite her height.

_Rin-san probably would complain about the cruelty of the world._

"Friend of yours, Char?" Ichika asked.

Charlotte squinted her eyes at him slightly.

"Ichika."

"Yes, Char?"

"Next time you go incognito, could you please let me pick out the color of your contacts? That shade of green does _not_ suit you."

Ichika swallowed nervously.

"Right. Anyway, who is this?"

"This is my friend from middle school, Jessica." Charlotte told him. Turning to Jessica, she began,

"And this is-"

"A horrible excuse for a man who desires far too much attention despite already being the only man who can pilot an IS." Jessica said in French.

Ichika's eyebrow twitched a little.

"Please, Jessie, be nice. His sister made him do that interview, and it wasn't that bad..." Charlotte responded in French.

"Meh, I still don't like it. I'm transferring to your class Monday as the American Representative, what class is he in?"

Ichika coughed.

"Two things;" Ichika began in French.

"Firstly, I know French. Secondly, I'm the _Class Representative_ of class 1-1, which is the one that Char belongs to as well."

Jessica made an unhappy noise under her breath.

"Why are you even with _him_, anyway, Charlie?" She asked.

"He's my boyfriend. Mine. Nobody else's. You can't have him." Charlotte told her, wrapping her arm in Ichika's.

Ichika shuddered as heard the man behind him cracking his knuckles.

"Well then, as Charlotte's honorary older brother, I suppose I need to show this guy what's what." Jessica's older brother told him.

After carefully setting the bags on the ground, Ichika turned around, sighing, with a determined look on his face, and looked the man in the eyes. Ichika was standing up straight, despite being a head shorter than the large man.

They held that gaze, neither backing down, for a few minutes, Charlotte nervously rubbing the back of her head and Jessica crossing her arms, looking disgusted and tapping her foot.

Eventually, Jessica's older brother grinned.

"You're surprisingly gutsy. Don't hurt her, or you'll have to answer to me." He told Ichika.

"If I hurt her, I'd have to answer to myself first. I don't think there'd be much left of me to answer to you after I'm done with myself." Ichika told him with conviction.

Jessica's older brother laughed.

"Ha! I like you. Far more gutsy than those other guys that tried to flirt with her before." Jessica's older brother tried to pat Ichika's shoulder.

Ichika grabbed his arm tightly before he could stop himself. Charlotte sighed, Jessica looked livid, Ichika looked disappointed in himself and Jessica's older brother was still grinning. Ichika immediately let Jessica's older brother go.

"Sorry about that. I've had some problems in the past. I don't like being touched by most people, especially without warning." Ichika said, barely willing to meet Jessica's older brother's eyes.

_I'm doing better. Didn't try to break his arm._

Jessica's older brother laughed.

"Don't worry about it! I've had worse."

Jessica's older brother continued offering his hand,

"The name's Enrique. Enrique Jesus Saul Garcia-Vasquez."

Ichika smiled and shook Enrique's hand.

"Ichika. Ichika Orimura, nice to meet you, Enrique-san."

Enrique began squeezing Ichika's hand. Ichika responded by doing the same. Eventually, Enrique let go.

"Heh. You're pretty strong. What did it?"

"About ten years of Kendo and workouts."

Enrique laughed.

"Yeah, that'll do it. Nice meeting you, Ichika. Next time we meet, I'll give you a few pointers on how to survive sisters. One man to another, and all that."

Charlotte let out a sigh of relief as Enrique said this. Jessica was looking even more unhappy.

Ichika smiled.

"That be much appreciated, Enrique-san."

Charlotte grabbed a couple of bags in one hand and Ichika's arm in the other.

"Come on, Ichika, let's go. I still have three more shops I want to go to."

Ichika picked up the rest of the bags and let Charlotte lead the way.

"He only said 'most people' when he mentioned not liking being touched." Enrique observed.

"Yeah, and I still don't like him. It's obvious that he's trying to impress her with his money." Jessica said.

Enrique sighed.

"I don't think that's it. It doesn't seem to me that he needs to. Besides, remember who her dad is. I doubt that throwing money around would impress her."

Jessica groaned.

"Maybe. I still don't like him, though. It's just something about his type."

Enrique rolled his eyes.

"He doesn't mention his parents. Something happened and he doesn't normally like to be touched by most people on anything beyond his terms. Considering who his sister is, she isn't abusive, which means that something else happened. I honestly think that people who know both of them are more worried about him being hurt than her. She's a tough girl, didn't cry much after her mother died. Though I suppose being able to live with your rich CEO father helps."

Jessica sighed.

"Whatever. Let's go, I have more shoes to get." She told him.

Enrique sighed.

"Right, right."

XXXXXXXX

A couple of hours later, after shopping was done

The mall

As Ichika and Charlotte walked over to the bus stop, Ichika carrying all of the bags, Charlotte grabbed his back.

"Ichika, can we stop by your place before I go back to the Academy?"

Ichika blinked.

"Sure. What is it that you need, Char?"

"I want to talk." She told him.

"Sure, let's go."

Ichika set his bags down in his room and then prepared tea while Charlotte sat down on the couch. Once Ichika was done with the tea, he sat down next to Charlotte and put his arm around her.

"So, what is it?"

"Well... I don't want you to mention anything about how my father or his family treated me while I was in France to Jessica."

Ichika raised an eyebrow.

"Is it because you don't like to think about it, or something else?"

Charlotte shook her head.

"No, it's just... Jessie thought that I was fine when I went up there, and I don't want to make her worried."

Ichika pushed a couple of Charlotte's hairs back behind her ear.

"Char... it depends on how bad she gets on it, if you really don't want her to worry."

"It's just... Jessie has a really, really big family. They all get along really well, too. And... they kind of took care of me and my mother for a while, sort of as honorary members. Jessie is the only girl among all of her cousins, so they liked having me there. I just... don't want them to worry, okay?"

Ichika sighed.

"She seriously didn't notice anything?"

"No, she didn't."

"Your father was an asshole and your mother was dead, you talked to her often and she didn't notice anything?"

"She would even come to the company."

"Right. Well, I'll try, Char. At the very least, I can do that much for you."

Charlotte rested her head on his chest and Ichika wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank you."

XXXXXXXX

_**Tabane**_

Saturday

Sarashiki-gumi Main Headquarters

Tabane was sitting in seiza in a waiting room wearing an extremely formal kimono, with Matsuda waiting in the back in a tuxedo, carrying a suitcase.

A maid came and served Tabane tea while she waited.

Eventually, Tatenashi entered, wearing a formal kimono as well. Tatenashi bowed before sitting.

"You wanted to see me, Tabane-san?"

Tabane looked around and locked her vision on the maid, who had remained in the room.

Tatenashi understood and dismissed the maid with a wave of her hand.

"I am well aware of your organization's functions fighting against a... mutual enemy of ours." Tabane began.

"And?"

"How well-protected and hidden is your base of operations?"

"I could always do better, why?"

"Matsuda-san." Tabane said.

Bowing, Matsuda walked over and set the suitcase on the table, opening it before Tatenashi.

Looking through the blueprints, Tatenashi smiled.

"This'll be excellent. How long until completion?"

"About two months. I know plenty of people and processes that can speed it up."

"What do you want in exchange?"

"Help funding it."

"That'll already happen. What else?"

"I want in. When everything goes to hell, which it will now, I want in."

Tatenashi smiled.

"Then you're in. I'm looking forward to working with you, Tabane-san."

XXXXXXXX


	16. Part 2, Chapter 3: Maiden's Journeys

Infinite Stratos, and all it characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means point-of-view character's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

_**Cecilia**_

Six months ago

A private jet

_I'm on my way! To Japan, of all places._

_A backwater country with horrible food and too much pride, and I've been sent here! This is ridiculous._

_This is the most ridiculous thing to happen to me since mother and father died._

_And now I have to show my superiority over every one of the men here, including this Ichika Orimura!_

_That is my duty, that which I must do in my mother's name._

**Part 2, Chapter 3: A Maiden's Journey: Part I: The Mournful Noble and The Valkyrie's Soldier**

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

Monday

Phantom Task Headquarters

_Finally, finally I have been accepted by my subordinates. They are weak and I am strong. I am as strong as Autumn-san. Hah! Spring is overly energetic, and her sister Winter is so... emotionless. But that's okay, because they're strong, too. If you're strong, you can do whatever you want. If you're strong, you can be whoever you want to be. I can't believe that I forgot this, it's how the world works, after all._

_Because I'm strong, Ichika will be mine. It's only a matter of time. If I become strong enough to beat Madoka, then I'll be stronger than Ichika, right? That's what I'll do, then._

_Squall-sama is amazingly strong, too. Especially now that she has that silver American IS. What was it called? Silver Gospel? Anyway, it's really quite something. I'm glad that Squall-sama isn't interested in men, or else she might try to take Ichika from me. Well, she would try. She'd be a much tougher opponent than that damn girl, that's for sure._

_It was so gross when Squall-sama told my squad to clean up the blood of the previous pilot inside of the Silver Gospel. I told a few people who hadn't been doing well during our training exercises to clean it. That'll show my people to do better than how they have been doing._

_It looks as though my sister is going to try something soon. From what I've heard, we're going to try to get her on our side. I hope she comes back to us, we could really use her help._

XXXXXXXX

_**Tabane**_

Monday

Alice's Mansion

_Hmm... I want to bring Ikkun with me when I'm announcing my new product. I want to invite Chacchan as well, but how am I going to phrase it?_

_No, no, no. I'm thinking of it wrong. Ichika did that interview, if he just comes with Chacchan, they'll know who his girlfriend is. What if I have him come as one of my employees, then invite all of the Representatives at the Academy? Chacchan will be there, and so will Tatechan. Tatechan is plenty reliable. With her, we won't have to worry about Phantom Task trying to get me at the debut._

_I suppose that even for Ikkun, five years like this would mean _something_ to him. I guess there's nothing to do but ask. Maybe he'll do it because he approves of the project I'm announcing. I'd like that._

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Monday

IS Academy, Classroom 1-1

Ichika actually studied over the weekend, starting on the second year curriculum. Mostly because he couldn't stand trying to work on his IS anymore and Chifuyu would only help him with his kendo training for so long before tiring of it. And his game console wasn't working with the TV correctly and Ichika has beaten all of the games he had anyway.

And now, Ichika sat in his classroom, listening to all of his classmates besides Charlotte and Laura chattering away about the American transfer student, who they've heard is from Texas, so they're thinking of a tall, bodacious, blonde woman with a heavy drawl. A few of them had been talking about Houki leaving the Academy, but most of those people were dragged in to the conversation about the new American Representative Candidate.

_Wow, I'd actually almost prefer Vasquez-san to that kind of woman. Ugh._

_I know that Vasquez-san is probably going to frustrate them, but I honestly don't care about that. It just means that they're going to have to deal with it like I am._

_It doesn't help that everyone in the class was looking at me kind of funny when I walked in. I doubt it was much better for Char. Every girl in my class probably read that interview, and it doesn't take these girls long to connect the dots. But, no matter. It's irrelevant, at least for the moment._

_Right now, I need to keep that DVD from ever being released, while at the same time either heavily reinforcing or completely destroying my reputation as unstoppable. I can't believe that people actually think that I am, ugh. Preferably the latter, but I suppose I could probably find some ways to enjoy myself during my school days if the former occurred as well._

_Only if I don't get forced to become the Student Council President as a 'reward' for winning. Now isn't that a scary thought. Maybe Char would like it, though?_

_No. I may love Charlotte, but I'm not going to become the President just because I think it might impress her. I don't need to impress her anymore- She is just as good of a pilot as I am. It doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks as long as Char and I know that we're equals. Which we are._

_That's what's important. However, it probably would be a good idea to contact Sarashiki-senpai and arrange the challenge soon._

_And, just to show that the world hates me, Houki-san is gone, now. Why can't Madoka and those people just Leave. Me. Alone?_

_Why do they want me so badly? What did I ever do to them? Why the hell am I, of all people, their target?_

_What the hell do those people even _do_ in Phantom Task? Are they high-ranked or Low-ranked? Why is Madoka there?_

_I know almost nothing about them, and I don't really want to talk to Tabane-nee about it anymore. Not after what she did..._

_Can I even forgive her? Do I even need to? Hasn't she done enough for me already?_

_I suppose so... but, how do I just forgive? What does that even mean?_

Ichika gripped his head in his hands, shaking it furiously while ruffling his hair.

_Ahh, damn, this is why I kept myself so busy over the week's break, so that I _wouldn't_ think of this..._

_Why did she leave, anyway? Did I underestimate how much she loved me? God, if that's the case, I feel like an asshole. Then again, I suppose it _is_ ridiculous that_ anyone_ would go so far as to join an evil organization out of revenge to a loved one who has forsaken them._

_Wait, didn't she say that Chifuyu-nee and Char were pushing her and I apart? What the hell did she mean by that?_

_No, I'm thinking of this wrong. I don't have any obligation to Houki-san. It was her decision, not mine. She was the one who desperately held on to a crush from eight years ago._

_God, how did she even know to leave? Was she in contact with Madoka?_

_I don't know. At least I have her IS in my database now, but I have no idea about how to deal with this._

Ichika snapped himself from his thoughts when he noticed that class was starting.

"Today I have yet _another_ new friend to introduce to you." Yamada explained.

Jessica strolled in, wearing the standard Academy uniform. She smiled as she introduced herself in a strong, projecting voice.

"Howdy. My name is Jessica Carmen Maria Garcia-Vasquez. It's nice to meet ya'll and I hope we can get along. Ya'll can me Jessie."

One of Ichika's classmates raised her hand.

"Why is your voice so loud?" She asked.

Jessica laughed.

"Well, cows are big, deaf and dumb. So, you kinda have to be _loud_ to get their attention." Jessica told them.

The classroom laughed nervously.

"So, you grew up on a farm?" Another girl asked.

"Ranch, actually. It was a lot warmer than here." Jessica replied.

"What's it like in America?" A final voice piped in.

Jessica turned and slyly glared at Ichika.

"Well, it's more interesting than Japan, that's for sure." She said.

_Damn, is she _trying_ to make me fight with her?_

Looking to his right, Charlotte looked quite unhappy with Jessica. Or maybe Ichika, he wasn't sure at the moment. He made a mental note to ask her about it during lunch.

_Huh... Cecilia's quieter than normal. Wouldn't she normally be asking questions or something, or pushing out some insult about barbaric Americans or Colonists._

Jessica sat herself down where Houki used to sit, pointedly ignoring Ichika completely. Classes went on. During the lunch break, Jessica made an offhand statement about how horrible Japanese food must be, and how glad she was to not have to eat either of their meals.

Ichika ate lunch, ignoring Jessica completely. The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, but as soon as classes ended, Cecilia ran out of the classroom. Ichika ran through his thoughts before realizing, finally, what was wrong, grabbed Charlotte's hand, and running out of the classroom.

_I'm such an idiot!_

"Ichika?" Charlotte asked.

"You're friends with Cecilia-san, right?" Ichika asked.

"Yes. We got along quite well, even before my gender was revealed." Charlotte responded.

"Today is the day that her parents died in an accident. I don't want to draw to much attention to her about it, so I didn't tell you in the classroom. Can you help her?"

Charlotte nodded.

"Of course. Just stay out of my way, I don't think that you can do much."

Ichika nodded, and he stopped running.

"I have a few things to take care of. Call me later."

"Right!" Charlotte replied, running after Cecilia and waving.

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

_She's like me. She's so much like me, it's almost funny._

_God, I'm _French_ and I'm about to comfort an _Englishwoman_._

_Not that I wouldn't do it, had I known about it._

_But how did Ichika know?_

_Hmm, he hasn't mentioned being close enough to Cecilia-san to talk about it._

_Wait... isn't he in active contact with Tabane Shinonono?_

_Did he _seriously_ do that? Actually gather information on somebody with Tabane-san's skills? That's..._

_I need to talk to him after this. In person, not over the phone. It's just not acceptable if he's actually using his resources to learn about people's personal issues._

Following Cecilia, Charlotte ended up in front of Cecilia's room in the dorms.

She sighed and knocked on the door.

"Cecilia-san? It's Charlotte. Are you okay?" She asked.

Cecilia responded in a restrained voice that belied a great deal of pain.

"Of course I'm fine, Charlotte-san. What would ever make you think otherwise?" Cecilia asked.

"It's just that you weren't your usual energetic self, and I was worried."

Cecilia made a choking sound.

"Can I come in?" Charlotte asked.

Cecilia laughed despairingly.

"Sure. I didn't lock the door behind me."

Charlotte tentatively opened the door to Cecilia's room, closing it behind her.

Cecilia was sitting on what must be her bed, hair and clothing in complete disarray. She was looking at Charlotte now, and Charlotte was suddenly hit with an overwhelming feeling of despair.

_I don't know what to do. How do I manage this with Ichika?_

_No, no, that won't work at all. But..._

Charlotte sat down across from Cecilia.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Charlotte asked her.

Cecilia bit her lower lip, then sighed and nodded.

"My mother was, even before the invention of the IS, the head of the family."

XXXXXXXX

_**Cecilia**_

Three years ago

England, Alcott Mansion

The Alcott family were Earls of above-average respect, though its Matriarch was either respected or hated by her peers. Bainbridge, the Patriarch and Cecilia's father, was a weak-willed, cowardly man whose only good decision in life was to marry his wife, Wynne Alcott. He held very little authority and didn't do much within the family. Cecilia grew up looking to Bainbridge as everything that a man shouldn't be, and resolved that her husband would be nothing like him.

Wynne Alcott was a woman who was driven, strict, and demanded your respect. She refused to allow her family to stay where it was and wanted nothing more than for the Alcott family to advance up the ranks of peerage, be it via marriage or a friendship with the crown.

She was strict but fair with Cecilia, whom she taught herself when she had time, or hired tutors when she didn't. Wynne organized many social events. She made sure that Cecilia had been tutored in all manner of dances, and only had the best of piano teachers.

After the invention of the IS, Wynne began to take an even more active role in society, earning her family much adulation. It was starting to look as though they could arrange some sort of marriage with a Marquis', possibly even a Duke's, son or grandson for their eldest daughter and only child.

When the IS was first invented, many noblewomen pushed to have their daughters take aptitude tests for the use of an IS. After all, if they were of proper, noble blood, then of course they should be superior and elite among the commoners, right?

Cecilia's aptitude was class A, which was about as high as the measurements went. Wynne began planning accordingly. After all, Cecilia wasn't going to remain seven years old forever.

It was an autumn day in the year that Cecilia was to turn thirteen. Her father and mother had left together on some important business, and Chelsea Blackett, her maid, had woken her up for breakfast. After breakfast, Cecilia's first tutor arrived, and she began her studies.

When Chelsea entered Cecilia's study a little later, grasping the phone and sobbing, Cecilia knew that something was terribly wrong. Chelsea had received firm instructions to never interrupt Cecilia's lessons unless it was an extremely important emergency. Cecilia rushed to Chelsea. Cecilia listened to the nurse, then rushed to the hospital. She made it just in time to tell her mother that she loved her before her mother died.

Cecilia walked out of the hospital room numb. After she returned home, she locked herself in her room and laughed, bitterly, for what seemed like hours upon end.

_They died from an accident! An accident, of all things! Yes, Mother had enemies and I had been a bit worried about this, but still. An accident! Random chance, not even anything I can blame anyone for! Where's the cruel god who decided on this, because I want to talk to them._

_Without Father, Mother and I could go on. He was a useless, hopeless man, anyway. With Mother gone, too, how am I supposed to prepare for Season?_

_Wait, will I even keep the fortune?_

_I must talk with my solicitor tomorrow..._

Mind brimming with these thoughts, Cecilia slept.

XXXXXXXX

Months later

Alcott Mansion

After organizing and holding her parents' funeral, Cecilia discovered that her uncles and cousins were actually trying to take the family fortune for themselves. She and her solicitor kept on trying to fend off their advances, but failure seemed to await their every turn.

Eventually, desperate and almost out of options, she petitioned the Crown.

If Cecilia served as an IS pilot for the government, gained a Representative Candidate status within the next two years and maintained that position for another twelve after that, Cecilia would be able to keep the family fortune and the Crown would deny all attacks on her right to inherit.

It wasn't a hard decision for Cecilia to make.

After a year and a half of fervent training, she was chosen as a Representative Candidate and met Mr. Howsham, who was to be her company sponsor.

Mr. Howsham was easy for Cecilia to establish a working relationship with, though by this time, she had a mindset as an elite so deeply ingrained in her psyche that Mr. Howsham completely gave up on trying to remove it.

XXXXXXXX

Eight months prior to the present

English IS Training arenas

Cecilia was doing her target practice, consistently hitting the bullseye on every target, when her coach called back to her.

"Alcott! Phone! They want to talk to you!"

Cecilia dematerialized her IS and proudly strode to her coach. She took the phone out of his hands and answered,

"Alcott here."

"Alcott. Change of plans. You're going to Japan as one of our Representative Candidates at IS Academy." A man who Cecilia recognized as the company's CEO told her.

"May I ask why?"

"There is a man in Japan who can pilot an IS. If you go now, he'll be in your year. It's a chance to prove yourself to be better than him. Isn't that more than enough?"

Cecilia smirked.

"Of course, sir. I understand."

"Very good." He hung up the phone.

_A man who can pilot an IS, huh? Maybe _he_ will be strong enough to help me keep my family fortune._

_After all, he can't be anything like father, right?_

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

Present day

IS Academy Dorms, Cecilia's room

Cecilia looked at Charlotte, guilt apparent on her face.

"Just because you were sent here to prove you're better than somebody doesn't mean that I disapprove." Charlotte told her gently.

"Humph! It's just not proper for a lady to come to a far-off, backwater country just to prove herself better than some commoner _man_! Sadly, I didn't realize this until now."

Charlotte smiled.

"Feeling better now?"

Cecilia flashed a smile before coughing and crossing her arms.

"Of course! Just the fact that someone such as yourself was willing to listen was enough to remind me of what I need to do!"

"Did you know that I was first sent here to get data on Ichika's IS? That's why I came as a man in the first place."

Cecilia gasped, then covered her mouth.

"My! But that's so degrading! Forcing a _woman_ to pretend to be a _man_? When we women are clearly superior? Who was the man who dared to make you do such a thing?"

Charlotte blinked.

"How did you know it was a man?"

Cecilia huffed.

"Because no self-respecting woman would force a girl such as you to pretend to be a man."

Charlotte smiled a bit wistfully.

"It was my father. After mother died, I was sent to him. I think the only reason he actually took care of me was because it would be a massive scandal if he didn't. His side of the family didn't like me much, though he just seemed ambivalent. He wanted a son."

"I'm... I'm sorry about your mother." Cecilia said.

"Oh, don't worry about it. We proper ladies have to stick together, after all." Charlotte grinned.

"I suppose that _is _correct. Have you ever been to any balls before, perchance?"

"Yes, I have." Charlotte said.

Cecilia jumped forward.

"Really? Did you ever meet any prospective gentlemen there?"

"A few. However, I was there as one of the gentlemen."

Cecilia nodded excitedly.

Charlotte smiled.

"I can think of two men who fit the description that I met at the most recent ball. One of them... I think his name was Mr. Howsham?"

Cecilia slumped down.

"He's my boss..." She mumbled.

"And the other one, well... you've already met him."

Cecilia blinked.

"When is _Ichika-san_ a gentleman?"

Charlotte smiled.

"When he likes you and there's nobody nearby to embarrass him."

"I see. Does Ichika-san know any proper gentlemen?"

"Maybe. Dan-san doesn't really seem like one, though. I don't know about Matsuda-san, I've only heard Ichika talk about him."

"Did Ichika-san not meet any proper gentlemen in his middle school?" Cecilia asked.

"From what I know, he didn't actually do much with most of his classmates in middle school. I think he was actually _less_ social."

Cecilia crossed her arms.

"Well, we can't have that! He is the only man who can pilot an IS, he must be able to be comfortable around and treat all ladies with respect!"

"I think, Cecilia-san, that as long as you know what boundaries to not step over, that we can work with him on that."

Cecilia rolled her eyes.

"I am a proper lady, of course I know how to keep myself in check with a taken man. What are we going to do first?"

Charlotte's smile wasn't very angelic.

"First, we..."

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Around the same time, Monday

IS Academy, Student Council Room

Ichika felt a cold chill go up his spine and shivered.

_I have a horrible feeling about this._

Ichika knocked on the door and was answered by a third-year who was wearing glasses.

"Can I help you, Orimura-kun?" She asked.

"Yes, Senpai. Could I please talk to the President?"

The third year looked behind her.

"Let him in, Utsuho-chan." Tatenashi ordered.

Utsuho stepped aside, and Ichika walked in.

_Hmm... Utsuho-san, huh? Seems like Dan's type, from what I can remember..._

"What is it, Ichika-kun?" Tatenashi asked.

Ichika took a deep breath.

"I would like to formally request that you refrain from circulating the DVD that you plan on selling that contains records of all of my present and future battles."

Tatenashi tilted her head to the side.

"May I ask why? That DVD's profits are going towards club funds."

"Because I, the star of that DVD, don't want it to go around."

Tatenashi put her hand on her chin and made a 'hmm'ing sound.

"Very well. I suppose that if you can beat me in a match, then I shall cancel the DVDs. That is, assuming that you aren't forced into becoming the President for beating the old one, of course. But, there only being a condition on _my_ loss isn't exactly fair or fun, now is it..."

Ichika couldn't help himself. He swallowed deeply and took a large step back.

"I know!"

Ichika almost started hyperventilating.

"Iiiff _Iii _wiin... you'll be my new toy- err, Vice President. I don't have one yet, anyway."

Ichika opened his mouth like a fish.

"No objections." Tatenashi ordered.

Ichika snapped his mouth shut.

Tatenashi looked at him for a moment before making an outward motion with her hand.

"What are you waiting for? Shoo! The match will be on Friday."

Ichika bowed deeply, turned around, and ran like hell.

Tatenashi sighed.

"No running in the halls!" She called after Ichika.

Ichika slowed down to a trot.

Once he was out of hearing range, Utsuho turned to Tatenashi.

"What are you going to do if he actually wins?"

Tatenashi burst out laughing.

"_Him_? Beat _me_?" She gasped out.

"Yeah, not going to happen. He'll be the vice-president." Tatenashi finished.

XXXXXXXX

A few minutes later

IS Academy Dorms, Ichika's room

_The IS Academy Student Council, due to a decision on the part of the Headmaster and Board, is completely autonomous and generally holds nigh-absolute power over the day-to-day management of student affairs. While most members are chosen by the President herself, the President is, without exception, the strongest student in the Academy._

_Tatenashi Sarashiki, the current President, is a second year, and the first second year in the Academy's short history to hold the title. She is the full Representative of Russia, rather than a Representative Candidate, who might have a chance of becoming a Representative._

_In other words, she is considered the strongest woman in all of Russia, a rather large country. She's 17. As far as I know, she gets perfect grades and every student in the school looks up to her._

_I have no chance in _hell_ of winning, but that's the point._

_Another duty of the Student Council, however, is that, in cases of emergencies (as stated in Chapter 10 of the IS Academy Charter), they have authority over the students._

_The hierarchy has first years at the bottom, followed by second years and then third years. Class representatives have authority over most members of their year and years below them. Personal machine holders have authority over the class representatives, again sorted by year. Most members of the student council stand above personal machine holders. The vice-president has authority over all students besides the President herself. The teachers have authority over the Student Council._

_This authority is primarily for the purpose of an instance where the Academy is being attacked, which has yet to happen, but, well, you never know._

_Members of the Student Council are also able to organize practice or more serious matches without prior teacher approval, within reason, as long as the arena that they want to use isn't already booked._

_In other words, if I win this match, I'll be the most powerful student in the school, at least in terms of authority, and if I lose this match, I'll be the second-most._

_Damn my luck._

_Of course it's going this way, the entire school is Sarashiki-senpai's playground._

_She even almost called me a toy._

_Well, no backing out if it now._

Ichika was interrupted from his thoughts by his phone ringing. When he checked the caller ID, it was Charlotte.

"What do you need, Char?" He asked.

"I want to know how you knew about Cecilia-san's parents." Charlotte told him a cold tone that left no room for opposition.

_Shit._

"My room or yours?" Ichika asked.

"Yours. I'll be there in five minutes."

Charlotte hung up.

Ichika, sighing, went through his drawers and took out his files on Houki, Cecilia, Rin, Laura and Tatenashi. He also started the security sequence to access Tabane's network.

Charlotte knocked on his door, and he let her in.

Charlotte, eyes squinted, critically regarded the five manilla envelopes on Ichika's desk. She crossed her arms.

"Well, where's mine?" She asked impatiently.

"What?" Ichika responded blankly.

"Where's the folder on me?"

Ichika blinked.

"I never asked for one."

Charlotte sighed.

"Why not? Was I not interesting enough?" She asked, playful impatience going unnoticed by her distraught boyfriend.

"No, you were more interesting than everyone else, so I didn't ask for a folder."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

"I'm _more_ interesting, so no folder? What kind of logic is that?"

Ichika scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I wanted to understand you without having to get a folder. I still do. I considered it when we first met, but... I just felt like I would be cheating if I got one. I didn't want to cheat, and now that we're dating, I want to even less."

Ichika grabbed Charlotte's hands in his.

"After all, part of the thing about relationships is that there _are_ no shortcuts, right? Getting a folder on you is cheating."

Charlotte rolled her eyes.

Ichika grinned sheepishly.

"Though, I might have gone through some research on your father using some personal resources available." He said.

"Ichika!" Charlotte snapped.

"Hey, I was doing it to track down whether or not he was paying any sort of money to you and your mother. This was after we starting dating, though."

Charlotte couldn't help but stop being quite so angry.

"What did you find?" She asked.

"He was. So much, in fact, that you mother probably didn't even work. You were likely living quite comfortably, right?"

Charlotte nodded.

"At least he was paying for your childhood. Now, can we go convince Chifuyu-nee to allow me to practice at one of the arenas?"

Charlotte tilted her head to the side.

"Why do you want to do that?"

"Well, I need practice. I'm going to be fighting against the Student Council President on Friday."

Charlotte nodded, and they headed out. Just before exiting, she stopped.

"WHAT?"

XXXXXXXX

A couple hours later

IS Academy, Training Arena 3

Ichika and Charlotte managed to get approval pretty easily, but on their way there, Cecilia asked if she could participate, and then Laura and Rin came, and so they're all planning on running rotation-style matches with Ichika. Or at least, that was the original plan. Chifuyu then decided that she was supervising, and that he couldn't attack them at all, only dodge. She would time to see how long he lasts.

Suffice to say, Ichika wasn't enjoying it.

After dodging a couple of lasers from Cecilia's bits, he ducked down, out of the way of one of Rin's swords, before spiraling around back up, away from Laura's location. Cecilia shot him with her main gun a few times, and Charlotte took out her SMGs, so Ichika took out Hyouzan- Chifuyu hadn't said anything about shielding. Holding his shield up in the direction that Charlotte and Cecilia were attacking him from, he was finding things a bit easier- until Rin fired her impact cannon and Laura fired her railgun at him at the same time. The combined impact sent Ichika flying back, then Charlotte and Cecilia stood over him, pointing their guns at their fallen comrade.

Chifuyu clicked her stopwatch.

"Two minutes. Not bad for the first round. All right, girls. Let's restore his energy for round two. Orimura, I want you able to last at _least_ five minutes by Friday. With the first two passing by without getting hit at all."

Ichika groaned.

_I'm not going to be sleeping much these next few days._

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

Monday night

IS Academy Dorms, Charlotte and Laura's room

"Hey... Misses?" Laura asked.

_I wish that she'd stop calling me that._

Charlotte sighed slightly.

"What is it, Laura?"

"Can you help me with something?"

"Only if you help me with something, too."

Laura thought for a moment.

"Very well. That is a fair trade. Can..." Laura began blushing, and her voice got so quiet that Charlotte couldn't hear what was being said.

"I'm sorry, Laura, what was that?"

"C-can... C-can you show me how to interact with other girls my age?"

Charlotte blinked.

"What?"

"Can you help me interact with my 'peer group' as Clarissa called it? I don't have any idea from where to start from."

"Didn't you go to school at one point, Laura?"

Laura blushed slightly before shaking her head vigorously.

"No. I was trained from birth to become the perfect soldier for my country."

"What did your parents have to say about that?"

"I don't have any parents. I never met them."

Charlotte started.

"I'm sorry for asking. Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm not like the commander, it's not like my parents are evil or anything."

"You know about that?"

"Of course. It was German military operation, after all. It was the reason that the Instructor came to Germany to train my unit in the first place."

"That's true. What do you think about having parents, then?"

"I'd rather know that my parents are dead than doubt their location. That way, I can't waste time hunting for them."

"That's pretty sad."

"It's the way of a soldier. I will live and die for my comrades and country, and that's just how it will be."

"Right then, I'll help you. I think I could get Cecilia-san to help. Pay attention when we start talking and eat lunch with us. Also, don't call me Misses anymore. I'm just Charlotte. I'm not married to Ichika."

_Yet._

"It's only a matter of time." Laura told her flatly.

Charlotte blushed.

"Still."

"I think that the trade is a by far in my favor, but if that's the trade that you want to offer, I'm not going to contest it."

XXXXXXXX

Tuesday, lunch time

IS Academy, Classroom 1-1

As Ichika was taking out his and Charlotte's lunches, Cecilia approached Charlotte.

"Dunois-san, do you want to eat lunch together?" Cecilia asked.

Charlotte looked over to Ichika, who shrugged.

"Sure, Alcott-san. Can I bring Ichika?" Charlotte asked.

"Of course!" Cecilia replied.

Laura came over, looking rather nervous.

"Can I come, too?" She asked in a small voice.

"Of course, Laura-san." Cecilia said.

Ichika stood up and looked around the classroom, noticing Jessica stewing in the side.

"Let's go to the roof." He stated.

_If Charlotte wants me to get along better with my classmates, then I don't see a problem with it._

_As long as she doesn't make me get along with Vasquez-san._

On the way out, Ichika stopped by the exit and noticed that Laura wasn't with them. He turned face her.

"Coming, Mädchen?"

Laura nodded and ran after them.

As the four made their way out, Ichika saw one of his classmates approach Jessica.

"Jessie-san, could we eat lunch with you?"

Jessica shot a glare at Ichika before telling them,

"No, I'll eat with my roommate, thank you."

_Who is her roommate, anyway?_

Ichika's group walked up to the roof.

When Ichika handed Charlotte her lunch, Cecilia slightly raised one of her eyebrows.

"Oh? You didn't tell me he was domesticated, Dunois-san."

Laura blinked, confused.

"I thought that it was normal for spouses, which was why the Commander makes lunch for the Mi- I mean Charlotte."

As Charlotte was blushing, Cecilia turned to Laura.

"No, Bodewig-san. You see, normally, it is the woman's job to prepare the lunches." Turning back to Charlotte, Cecilia asked,

"So, why does he make your lunches, anyway?"

Ichika piped in.

"Because Charlotte isn't a morning person and doesn't have any problems eating in the cafeteria like I do. I like getting up early and making my own breakfast, and even when we were rooming, I still made lunch."

"And he's a better cook than I am..." Charlotte said, slightly ashamed.

"No, I'm not. You're much better in French cuisine than I am. I've only got above-average skills." Ichika explained.

Cecilia crossed her arms.

"Oooh? Like your 'above-average' piloting skills?"

Ichika cringed.

"That's different..."

"Anyway, all that I'm saying is that it's good to have a man who'll listen and help with housework on your side, especially so that you can make sure that you go and do the most important thing for your family."

Laura had taken out a notebook and was writing furiously in it.

"Of course, there are some things that you do need to bring the man along for. Going clothes shopping, for instance. Especially swimsuits." Cecilia explained.

"I don't know," Charlotte began.

"You don't know what happens when you let Ichika choose his own clothing."

Ichika sputtered.

"Char!" He cried indignantly.

Charlotte giggled.

"You know I'm right."

"I still don't see what was wrong with dark green shorts and a bright orange t-shirt..." Ichika muttered.

Cecilia crossed her arms and huffed.

"There is everything wrong with it! You aren't supposed to dress like a pumpkin, especially this far away from Halloween!" She explained.

Laura was still scribbling in her notebook, lunch forgotten.

"That's what I told him, but he didn't listen. I'm pretty sure that he said that Orimura-sensei used to pick out all of his clothing, too."

"I swear, some men need a woman just so that they can figure out what clothing to wear in the morning..." Cecilia sighed.

"Oh! Did you see that model's new line?" Charlotte asked.

"Which one?"

"You know, Claire..."

At this point, Laura continued to scribble notes and eat a bit, Ichika tuned out the entire conversation and ate his food, and Charlotte and Cecilia alternated talking about clothes and gossip and pretty much everything that Ichika wasn't interested in.

_Well, I'm glad that she's at least made a friend._

_Now, how am I going to survive my training tonight..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Tatenashi**_

Thursday

IS Academy dorms, Tatenashi's room

Tatenashi was sitting on her chair, legs crossed at the knees, talking into her phone.

"Yes, he will be involved with us once he loses."

Tatenashi shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but you aren't going to be able to contest this."

Tatenashi rolled her eyes.

"He remembers now, you know what that means."

Tatenashi sighed.

"Look, Chifuyu-sensei. You know who we are. You know what we do. We both know, very well, that he _will_ approach me of his own free will sooner or later. After all, we are the Phantom Hunters."

XXXXXXXX

AN: Part 2 is likely going to clock in at ten or so chapters, and while I know the events, I don't know how long Part 3 is going to be


	17. Part 2, Chapter 4: Maiden's Journeys II

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means point-of-view character's thoughts.

XXXXXXXX

_**Tatenashi**_

One year ago, A couple days after the IS Academy entrance exams

Sarashiki family residence

Tatenashi was practicing her Judo when a maid knocked on the dojo door.

"Madam, your sister wants to talk to you."

Tatenashi wiped a bit of sweat off of her forehead and instructed,

"Let her in."

A woman who looked about a year younger than Tatenashi, with long hair in a slightly darker shade than Tatenashi's, wearing a pair of square glasses came stomping in.

"Nee-san. What is this about you letting a _man _into the Academy?" The girl asked.

Tatenashi blinked before putting on an innocent smile.

"Whatever makes you think that I, of all people, am capable of changing somebody's enrollment in the Academy, Kanzashi-chan?"

Kanzashi glared at her.

"Don't give me any of that, Nee-san. You were the vice-president last year, and practically ran the Academy even back then. You're the head of our family. Don't tell me anything about not being able to block people from entering the Academy."

Tatenashi smiled airily.

"I don't want to. Did you know that we have Tabane Shinonono's little sister among the freshmen as well? And the _man _that can pilot is Chifuyu-sensei's little brother. You know, the one who was _kidnapped_ by _them_ five years ago?"

Kanzashi rolled her eyes, crossed her arms and huffed.

"Ooorr..." Tatenashi began, practically slithering to her sister before running her index finger under her sister's chin,

"Are you mad because he's getting _your _IS core and the company is putting out _his_ IS first? Because he's not even a representative candidate like you and yet he's getting _your_ IS?"

Kanzashi slapped her sister's hand away.

"Shut up, Nee-san."

Tatenashi pouted.

"Aww, you're no fun, Kanzashi-chan."

"It's not about being fun, Nee-san." Kanzashi muttered.

Tatenashi narrowed her eyes.

"Then what _is_ our battle about, Kanzashi-chan?"

"It's not about being fun, it's about _winning_. No matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice. That's it. I don't think that this _man _will be in a better position to help our battle than where I'll be."

"But's that's no fun." Tatenashi told her simply.

Kanzashi growled and stomped out of the dojo.

Tatenashi went back to her katas.

_Foolish girl._

XXXXXXXX

**Part 2, Chapter 4: A Maiden's Journey: Part II: The Playful Queen and the Raging Princess**

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Friday

IS Academy, arena 2, launch chamber

Word about the match between Ichika and Tatenashi had quickly spread throughout the school, so the battle was going to be seen by most of the school.

_Heh, this is going to go well. I'll fight my hardest, most likely lose in front of the entire school, and then _none_ of them can claim me to be invincible._

Ichika flew out to a waiting Tatenashi.

"Are you ready, Sarashiki-senpai?" He asked.

Tatenashi laughed.

"I should ask you the same."

"I don't think anyone is ready to fight _you_, senpai. I think I did do a good job getting ready, though."

**IS and Pilot not in database detected.**

**Begin scan?**

**Y/N**

_Yes._

**Scanning...**

"Three..." Chifuyu called.

Ichika smiled, materializing Fubuki and Hyouzan.

"Two..."

Tatenashi grinned, materializing a two-handed lance and a dozen light blue pods.

"One..."

**Scan complete.**

_Holy shit! Water manipulation, a whip-sword and a lance with four built-in gatling guns?_

_Great, trying to get close is suicide._

"Start!"

Tatenashi immediately pointed her lance at Ichika, who brought up his shield to block the barrage.

Tatenashi flew up, Ichika tracking her movements and keeping his shield facing her.

Four pods flew away from Tatenashi's IS and Ichika deployed four Hyouchuu to deal with them. Using Fubuki, he fired a single large, piercing shot.

Tatenashi quickly brought out four more pods, who circled each other and a whirlpool of water came out from between them, weakening his laser as Tatenashi flew off to the side.

Ichika held up Hyouzan and continued to block Tatenashi's attacks while circling her slowly, shooting at her from various directions, all of which Tatenashi dodged. She then used four pods to gather water around her spear.

_Shit! That can't be good!_

Ichika deployed ten Hyouchuu, four as swords, four as guns and two as whips, to prepare for an attack.

He had the whips try to latch on to Tatenashi's legs, but when they fired, Tatenashi held her lance in her right hand, materialized a longsword in her left, and slashed with it, causing the sword to expand and cut both the whips.

She then held the lance in her right hand while using the sword in her left to destroy the Hyouchuu that Ichika was throwing at her.

Ichika dodged to the side, careful to keep a constant distance from Tatenashi while firing Fubuki, which she kept on evading effortlessly.

Ichika checked the area that he had initially deployed some Hyouchuu to, only to discover that they were gone along with Tatenashi's pods.

He hesitated.

He tried to fly to the right, but found himself leaning into a whirlpool.

He tried to escape, but the suction of the whirlpool kept him trapped.

_Shit!_

He turned around, just in time to see Tatenashi coming after him, lance extended with water swirling around it, like a drill.

Thinking quickly, he brought Hyouzan around to block her attack, while dematerializing Fubuki and materializing and activating Yukihira.

As Tatenashi's lance collided with his shield, she cried,

"Lance of Mistilteinn!"

Ichika had Yukihira extended at her, but she shifted slightly to the side and narrowly dodged the attack.

Tatenashi was easily piercing Hyouzan. Ichika activated all of his speed boosters and flew as far back from Tatenashi as he could manage. He could only watch, helplessly, as she destroyed Hyouzan.

Ichika deactivated Yukihira and materialized Fubuki in his now free left hand.

_I really didn't want to need Yukihira. It's never good to rely on it, and with this kind of match, trying to get close is nigh-impossible, especially without any sort of cover and a sword that drains your shield energy at a constant rate._

Ichika flew back from Tatenashi in a spiral trying to gain some distance while dodging her bullets. He felt a sudden impact and watched as his shield energy depleted a bit.

Looking behind him, Ichika saw an icicle that had impaled itself on the back of his shield. Sighing, Ichika deployed his remaining Hyouchuu and sent them at Tatenashi in sword mode while shooting at her with Fubuki.

Tatenashi flew towards him, spinning her lance to deflect the sword-mode Hyouchuu, which flew behind her after being deflected. She moved her lance to her left hand and in her right materialized her whip-sword, which she swung at Ichika. The sword extended and Ichika used Yukihira to block it, causing Tatenashi's sword to wrap around Ichika's.

Ichika took this opportunity and shot her twice, both times connecting. Ichika then tried to pull Tatenashi back by pulling with his sword, which still had her whip-sword wrapped around it.

Tatenashi dematerialized her whip-sword, and Ichika rolled back a bit from the sudden lack of resistance. She began to shoot at him.

Ichika had his Hyouchuu switch to laser mode and begin firing at Tatenashi from behind. When Tatenashi turned to deal with them, he charged at her.

Four pods came in front of him, and a whirlpool immobilized him. Four more pods destroyed his remaining Hyouchuu. Tatenashi turned back to him and removed the whirlpool.

Ichika activated all of his speed boosters and flew to Tatenashi as fast as his IS would let him. He activated Yukihira and then used Ignition Boost to close the remaining distance.

Ichika's shield energy was constantly decreasing and he wasn't even sure if he would get to her in time, but he had to try.

When he got close enough, Tatenashi tried to block him with her spear, but he easily bisected it. Tatenashi dropped both halves of the lance and materialized her whip-sword in her right hand. She raised it above her head, and as Ichika slashed upwards on her chest, she stabbed down.

Tatenashi and Ichika hit each other at the same instant, each depleting the other's shield energy and ending the match.

"The match is over! It's a draw!" Chifuyu declared.

While the crowd had been cheering loudly at some points, a hush fell over the arena at the announcement.

_Are they silent because I managed to get a _draw_ with Sarashiki-senpai, or because _I _managed to get a draw with _Sarashiki-senpai_?_

_Either way, I think I agree._

_Holy shit._

"So, what now, Sarashiki-senpai?"

"As the President, my judgement is thus: You will be my Vice-President, and I won't produce those DVDs. I'm looking forward to working with you."

Ichika dematerialized his IS and bowed.

"Yes, thank you. And I look forward to working with you."

Ichika and Tatenashi walked out to opposite ends of the arena and left the battlefield. When Ichika left the arena from his exit, Charlotte, Laura, Cecilia, Rin and Jessica were waiting for him. Charlotte ran over and hugged Ichika, who returned the hug before moving Charlotte to the side.

At this point, Laura was writing something down, Jessica was glaring at Ichika, Cecilia was nodding in satisfaction, and Rin looked proud.

"What?" Ichika asked.

Jessica snorted.

"'Above-average skills,' my ass. That was the President. She's a National Representative pilot. You just fought her to a draw."

Cecilia glared at Jessica.

"Vasquez-san, most of that interview was complete and utter drivel." Cecilia said.

"Then why, pray tell, _did_ he say that?" Jessica replied.

Ichika raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"I didn't say _anything_ about what I said in the interview being the truth, anyway. Besides, Chifuyu-nee made me do that and told me what to say."

_Though I would have said something similar even if she hadn't._

"That's just an excuse. Why wouldn't you want to brag about your abilities? Don't you want the attention?" Jessica demanded.

Ichika tensed.

_I'm sorry, Char, but I don't think I can stand this woman._

Charlotte grabbed Ichika's arm. Ichika relaxed a little.

"Do you know what _I _think about getting attention?" Ichika growled.

Jessica snorted.

"You love it. Why else would you do an interview and appear on the cover of the magazine?"

Ichika looked at Charlotte darkly.

"I'm leaving. Probably heading to the student council room, going to see what I need to do." He said tersely.

"Right." Charlotte nodded.

"I'll call you tonight." Ichika told her, then walked off.

Once Ichika was sure that he was out of Charlotte's hearing range, he stopped.

"Come out now, it's just us." He called.

He heard a rustling, and as he turned around, he saw a girl wearing the Academy uniform. She was a first-year, with long hair a bit darker than Tatenashi's and wearing a pair of glasses.

"I see that my sister made the right choice, after all, Ichika Orimura." She said.

"Are you Sarashiki-senpai's little sister?"

"You're quick on the pickup, too, I see. You really are a better choice than me."

"What do you mean?"

The girl took a couple steps closer.

"What I mean is that until you showed up, the people who manufactured your IS were making mine."

_Ah._

"Do you hate me, then, Sarashiki-san?" Ichika asked.

The girl wrapped her arms around her torso.

"Don't call me that!"

Ichika stared at her.

"Don't call me... Sarashiki. My name is Kanzashi."

_Great, another person with family issues. Is Vasquez-san the only Representative Candidate here with a happy family? Look at how _she_ turned out, too._

"Then, Kanzashi-san, allow me to repeat my question. Do you hate me?"

"I used to, Orimura-kun. However, you have demonstrated your worth to our cause. As you are somebody capable of keeping up with my sister, I no longer find it a concern of mine."

"She's your sister. Why aren't you standing by her?"

"Because I'm not good enough."

"I doubt she thinks that."

"It doesn't matter if she does or doesn't think it. It's a fact."

Ichika sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"There's always a choice. When I was little, I decided that I _would_ be somebody who could proudly stand next to my sister. It doesn't matter what other people think, all that matters is that my sister knows that I'm good enough."

Kanzashi sighed.

"Enough. This isn't what I am here to discuss. There are people that you can't forgive, yes?"

Ichika stiffened.

_How does she..._

"What _are_ you talking about?" He asked with as much honesty as he could muster.

"Don't even try. As much as I loathe to admit it, the Sarashiki family has a massive amount of resources available. Especially to me, the sister of the current family head."

"And does my personal grudge with Phantom Task, or more specifically, my parents, interest _you_ or the Sarashiki family, Kanzashi-san?"

"Honestly? Both. Mostly the Sarashiki family, though."

"Why?"

Kanzashi sighed.

"Because we've been fighting against Phantom Task since that organization was founded in the first place."

"And what does your fight have to do with me?"

Kanzashi shrugged.

"Everything. You just don't know it yet."

Kanzashi turned to leave.

"Wait!"

"Goodbye, Orimura-san. I might see you around."

Kanzashi vanished.

_Great, she's just like her sister._

_What to do now?_

_Well, I should report to the student council room._

Ichika sighed, scratched his head and turned around, and continued to walk over to the council room. When he arrived, the room was empty, save Tatenashi, who was sitting in her chair. On one side of her desk was a stack of papers, and a smaller stack was on the other side.

"Here to learn about your duties, Ichika-kun?"

"And other things. What the hell is _with_ your sister?"

Tatenashi sighed.

"I don't really know, to be honest. Doesn't matter, though. She's not important. I'll explain to you your new duties."

Tatenashi handed Ichika the larger stack of papers.

_Seriously?_

"Start looking this over."

Ichika sighed and looked at the papers.

CLUB BUDGET REQUISITION FORM- ARCHERY CLUB

Looking at the other papers in the pile, he realized that, indeed, they all were Club Budget Requests.

"Shouldn't you have had this done a couple of months ago?" He asked incredulously.

"We spent the time planning events that are now obsolete."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not." Tatenashi dismissed offhandedly.

Ichika pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, I'll start looking over it. Hold the Budget meeting Wednesday, please. I'll look over these tonight and do some research."

Ichika thought for a moment.

"Can we hold a short staff meeting tomorrow at, say, two o'clock, to introduce me to everyone? I have an idea for how to get this done quickly, and the weekend would be a good time to do it."

Tatenashi shrugged.

"Very well. Are there any particular resources that you require to complete the job that I have assigned you?"

"Can I have a list of all the equipment that every club currently possesses?"

"I don't have that on me. You'd be better off asking around."

Ichika shrugged.

"I'll do that, then."

Ichika walked out of the council room and headed back to his dorm room. He spent time until midnight doing research so that he could have some idea about what all of the clubs needed.

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

That night

Phantom Task Headquarters

Gathered in a dimly-lit room were Squall, each of the four Seasons, Madoka and the board of directors. They were sitting at a round table, and each had a screen in front of them, though there was a much larger screen in the center of the table.

"We are here to discuss how close we are to the completion of phase 2. Madoka-chan?" Akemi Orimura began.

"Yes, Kaa-sama. At the moment, we are halfway through conversion for the upgraded golems. Summer's IS contained some info on how Fold-Out armor worked and its applications, probably to give Summer a better idea on how to use it, and so we gained progress faster than we thought." Madoka explained.

"Well done. Is there anything you can do to upgrade the Combat Division's ISs in time for the raid, Madoka?"

Madoka thought for a moment.

"Probably. I actually have a couple of theories, if you would like to hear them."

"Go ahead, Madoka-chan." Akemi said.

"Well, bringing everyone's ISs up to fourth generation shouldn't take more than three days, two if I pull some all-nighters. However, the flexibility of its applications are far superior to what we initially thought."

Squall tensed for a moment.

"Could you please elaborate, Madoka?"

"Certainly, Squall. The simplest method is that we can use the system, applied as an extra pair of wings, to increase the output of the thrusters, drastically increasing a unit's speed and acceleration, though some adjustments will need to be made, seeing as how an IS going at speed higher than what it's designed to can, in fact, hurt the pilot."

"That doesn't matter to us." Akemi stated.

"I am well aware of that, Kaa-sama. However, the injuries can negative effect our pilot's capabilities. As such, I propose that we remove the emergency shields and set up our piloted ISs to use the energy to increase shield energy slightly and increase output in all areas. After all, a stationary IS is a useless IS, no matter how strong it might be otherwise."

"Considering how we go about our operations, that's fine. What is another application?" Squall asked.

Madoka smiled widely.

"Well, it can become a kinetic shield that covers the ISs entire body and self-renews once deactivated. However, that's not my favorite application."

Madoka tapped a few strokes on her keyboard, and a diagram on the central screen appeared, with additional information on every person present's screens.

"This is..." Squall whispered in awe.

Houki grinned.

_With this, nothing can stand in our way..._

Akemi smiled widely. It reached her eyes, but her face looked like that of a hunter beyond all else.

"Well done, Madoka-chan. This is going to revolutionize IS development, far above and beyond what was previously thought possible. Meeting adjourned."

As people began filing out, Houki and a tall, dark-skinned woman approached Madoka.

"What is it, Spring, Summer?" Madoka asked.

The dark-skinned woman crossed her arms.

"There's a modification that you will put on my IS." Spring began.

"I would like you to put it on mine, as well." Houki stated.

Madoka smiled.

"Very well. Let us go to my office, we can discuss things there."

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Saturday

Student Council room

Ichika sat to Tatenashi's immediate right on one of two long, rectangular tables in the Student Council room. Tatenashi sat at a separate, shorter table that had papers scattered all over the top and a desktop computer shoved to the left.

"Hello, everyone. I'm your new Vice President, and I'd prefer it if we were to just get started on this." Ichika began.

Various members of the council nodded.

Taking out a stack of papers, Ichika continued.

"I've gone through our budget sheets and done some research on every club's needs. I have no idea at the moment what every club actually has, and we are on kind of a short time limit to figure out what they need versus what they have and how much our overall budget that can be applied to where."

Ichika held on to a half-dozen sheets of paper before placing the rest to his left.

"So, I decided that we would talk to the Clubs.. Everyone should come and take sheets for any club that has one of their friends. I personally only have five clubs to visit, so I'll be pretty free to take care of any extra clubs we may need to handle."

"Aye, Orimu!" A girl sitting across from Ichika called. She was wearing a yellow hoodie and long sleeves that concealed her hands.

"Right. And what's your name, minion- er, student council member-san?"

_She is most certainly a minion. And a member of my class' gossip trio, if I recall._

_...Oh shit, she's a member of my class' gossip trio. And a member of the Council. This won't go well..._

"That's mean, Orimu! We're in the same class! I'm Honne Nohotoke!"

"Right... sorry, Nohotoke-san... Anyway, everyone come and grab the sheets for clubs."

Everyone came and, surprisingly, Ichika ended up only having to handle the soccer club in addition to the ones that he had grabbed, which were the Kendo, Tennis, Lacrosse, Cooking, and Tea Ceremony Clubs.

_There, now I only have to go to one club that I'm either not already planning to visit or know somebody in._

Ichika went back to his room and examined the club schedules.

_I can go to all of the clubs on Monday, examine my results on Tuesday, and have the right facts by Wednesday morning..._

_If I take long enough examining the other clubs, I can go to the Cooking Club last and do something with Char after..._

_Well, right now it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to take a look at what I can access thanks to Sarashiki-senpai's IS' abilities._

_I should always be prepared for everything..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Claude Dunois**_

Dunois Industries, France

The blonde-haired, middle-aged man sighed as he looked at the email he had received.

_Vasquez has been more useful than expected, bringing me this kind of information._

_It's kind of sad that she just bought it instantly when I asked for her to tell my how my daughter was doing because I was concerned about her and she never tells me anything._

_Then again, I doubt that she's ever seen anything that could make her think of a family as anything less than on great terms with each other, telling the others every little secret._

_I'm pretty sure that she's the exception, not the rule, to how those Representative Candidates get along with their families._

_Still, to think that Charlotte's gender had been exposed so easily..._

_It's almost offensive, if it weren't for the benefits that this situation can bring me if I play my cards correctly._

_The boy and my daughter are devoted to each other to an extreme extent. Far more than what I could have expected from a pair of teenagers. Then again, he isn't exactly normal, and I suppose that they both had to grow up fast, Ichika more so than my daughter. He would make an excellent heir, at the very least..._

_No, that's wasting his potential. A politician? No, I have no way to convince him to do such a thing._

_I seem to recall that he wanted to be a researcher. If I could give him funding..._

_No, that wouldn't work. There's no way that he's dumb enough to ditch Tabane Shinonono's funding just to impress his girl's father._

_Especially when I doubt he likes me much..._

_Certainly, though, no matter what he does, he'll be able to go very far in life. And from what I can tell and plan for, my daughter will be attached to him..._

_Now, now, don't try to rush things, Claude. You'll have plenty of time for that later. After all, most people frown upon arranged marriages these days..._

_Pushing them together by forcing her to marry another?_

_No, counter-productive. The boy wouldn't believe me even if I tried to claim it was for any other reason..._

_At this point, there's nothing I can take from her besides her piloting, and I don't want to revoke that for fear of the wrath of Alice's Herald._

_Or Alice herself._

Claude shuddered.

_No, I'm going to have to be much more subtle here, if I want anything to go my way..._

Claude sighed and his eyes chanced upon a picture. It was of himself, almost twenty years younger, embracing a woman with long, blonde hair and purple eyes. They were both smiling and laughing.

_I've really screwed this up, haven't I, Marie? My daughter barely thinks of me as her father, or at best is afraid of me, her boyfriend hates me, and now that I have what I wanted it's nothing like how I imagined it._

_Why? Why did I decide that the company was more important than myself, more important than you, Marie?_

_Why didn't you marry me when I asked?_

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Monday

After club activities

Ichika and Charlotte walked through the halls of the dorms. In Ichika's right hand was the pile of data that he had gathered for the clubs. His left was wrapped around Charlotte's waist.

"I hope that I _never_ have to do that again."

"Why?"

"Soccer Club made me run laps with them. The Tea Ceremony Club kept on trying to peek on me while I was changing. Fortunately, Mädchen was there, and kept them in line."

Ichika shuddered.

Charlotte giggled.

"Do I need to show them what happens when they mess with _my_ Ichika?" She asked demurely.

"No. Mädchen took out the gun that I handed her back in the mall incident."

Charlotte looked at Ichika, shocked.

"She _still_ has that?" She asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Yeah, but, really, we're allowed to deploy our ISs anywhere on campus, so I figured it wouldn't make much of a difference. Anything that can damage an IS can certainly kill a human, unless it's designed to directly damage circuits. I still carry around a knife in the folds of my blazer, to be honest."

_I still can't convince myself that I have a reason to get rid of it..._

Charlotte sighed, and Ichika knew that she understood that this conversation wasn't going to go her direction any time soon.

"What about the other clubs?" Charlotte asked.

"I managed to get in and out of the Tennis and Lacrosse Clubs easily enough, but the Kendo Club made me go up against their Club President and all of their regulars."

"Did you win?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. It is, however, why I was practically dragging myself to your club earlier. On the bright side, we now have all of the paperwork for club equipment, so in future years we can just go over the files that the Student Council has and know what equipment each club has. I can't believe that nobody had done this earlier..."

They stopped by Ichika's room and he deposited the files. Turning around, Ichika and Charlotte headed to the roof, Charlotte's head resting on Ichika's shoulder.

When they reached the roof, Charlotte sat down between Ichika's legs and Ichika wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her right shoulder.

"Do you want to do anything?"

"No, just staying here is fine."

They sat there for what could have easily been hours.

_I think we've missed dinner..._

As the sun set, a small smile played its way onto Ichika's lips.

"It's nice to be able to do this. The two of us, together, I mean. I missed it, to be honest."

"And why's that?"

Ichika paused.

"I... I think it's because I feel safe here, with you."

Charlotte paused.

"I make you feel safe?"

"It's like a feeling of... well, the best way to put it would be that I feel like, as long as you're here, everything will be okay."

"You've never felt safe before?"

"Not in much too long. I just... I can't convince myself that people _can_ be trusted... that everyone _isn't_ after me. It's illogical, I know. I try to tell myself that, but it just doesn't change. I want to, I really do. I don't want to feel like everyone's after me. I don't want to feel like the only I'm safe is if I carry a weapon on me at all times. I don't want to instantly calculate my exits whenever I enter a room, and confirm them as soon as my situation shows even a hint of changing. I want to be able to go to the mall, and go to a restaurant, and not care about where I sit and just enjoy the time and company. But, no matter how illogical it is, I can't."

Charlotte sighed, and turned in Ichika's arms. She looked into his eyes and moved his right hand to her cheek.

"Ichika, logic doesn't make a difference. It's what you _feel_, and logic isn't going to help you. Logic tells you what you _should_ feel, not what you really do. If you try to use logic, it won't work. Emotions don't work that way, Ichika."

Ichika thought and found himself getting lost into her eyes, which shined with her words.

Ichika kissed her, gently, and she gently kissed back.

After a couple of minutes, they pulled back, each faintly blushing.

"Logic dictated that I think about what you had said. My emotions were telling me to kiss you. I think I prefer my emotions, to be honest." Ichika told her while smirking slightly.

Charlotte wrapped her arms around Ichika's neck, he put his right hand behind her head, and they kissed again.

Eventually, Charlotte turned back around and rested the back of her head on Ichika's shoulder, and they stayed on the roof and watched the sun set.

From her vantage point at the door behind them, Jessica sighed to herself, shook her head and left silently to return to her dorm room.

XXXXXXXX

_**Rin**_

About the same time

IS Academy dorms

Rin sighed, sitting on her bed.

_She's spying on Ichika again. She's still not over it, I suppose._

_Then again, seeing as how she's acting, I shouldn't be surprised._

The room's door opened, and in stepped an almost livid Jessica, stomping a bit.

"I still don't get what she sees in him!"

Rin winced.

_Okay, this has gone on long enough._

"Jessica." Rin stated flatly.

"What?" Jessica yelled.

Rin leveled a glare at Jessica.

"Sit down and shut up until I'm done." Rin told her in a tone that brokered no argument.

Jessica crossed her arms and sat down in a huff.

"I haven't mentioned this before, because I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this, but quite frankly I'm getting tired of watching you do this."

"And why would you care about the two of them?"

"Because I've known Ichika since my first year of middle school."

Jessica glared right back at Rin, but said nothing silently allowing her to continue.

"I was being picked on because I was Chinese. He came over and pretty much destroyed them with their own arguments. Then, when they tried to attack him, he beat them into the ground and walked away. It was only after having spent time teaching him Chinese that I realized how unusual it was for him to do that."

Jessica looked curious.

_Good._

"Why would it be unusual? He seems to me like he stands up for everyone just for the attention."

Rin had to reign in her emotions to keep herself from screaming at the girl in front of her or dropping her jaw in shock.

_She doesn't _get_ it?_

"Ichika spent his entire time in Middle School working as hard as he could to keep himself from standing out to other people. He maintained average grades, high enough that teachers wouldn't try to get him to work harder and low enough that nobody would start to expect anything great from him. He was Kendo Club president, but I think he only did that because Chifuyu-san would kill him if he wasn't good at it, and he needed to join a club."

Jessica sighed.

"That's just how he behaved back then. Around here, he probably just likes the attention now."

Rin sighed.

"Jessie, I've seen him on edge from the slightest hint of somebody having any hostile attentions to him. The only people whom I've seen that have been able to touch him without worrying about being attacked are Chifuyu-san, Dan, and Charlotte-san."

"So? He could just be attracted to her because of her looks. Charlie is rather beautiful, you know."

Rin almost grit her teeth.

"Yes, I noticed. However, I've never seen him look at anyone else the way he looks at her. He loves her, Jessie. And she loves him."

Jessica glared.

"Why?"

"Why does she love him, you mean?"

"Yes."

"Well, you'll have to ask her. My name isn't Charlotte Dunois, I can't tell you. Why don't you just ask her?"

Jessica rolled her eyes.

"I suppose I can just do that." She sighed.

XXXXXXXX

_**Tatenashi**_

Monday night

IS Academy Dorms, Sarashiki siblings' room

Tatenashi growled in frustration at the email her agents had just sent her.

_All I've got is a general outline for how the organization is organized. I can learn some degree of their recruitment info, but as soon as somebody joins, they disappear from the face of the earth and we never hear anything about them again._

_The most that I know is that the person in charge of recruitment is Akemi Orimura, but that doesn't really help much._

"What is it, Nee-san?"

Tatenashi rotated her chair to face her little sister.

"Ah! Kanzashi-chan!"

"Answer my question, Nee-san." Kanzashi growled.

"Oh, it's just that all of our little friends in the organization aren't coming up with anything particularly useful for us. We can't get anyone high enough in the organization; the best we have is a foot soldier in one of their minor bases, but we don't have enough man-power or authority in Interpol to authorize a full-on assault like this. Father did, but they think that I'm just some little girl who doesn't know her place."

Kanzashi glared at her sister.

"I'm sure that you'll think of something, Nee-san. After all, _you_ were the perfect daughter."

Tatenashi sighed.

"Yes, I know. Can we _please_ be civil about this? I have work to do."

Kanzashi paused for a moment.

"You know, I bet that the clan elders would have approved of Orimura-kun."

Tatenashi rolled her eyes.

"That's never happening. To either of us. I will use my status as clan head to prevent such a thing if necessary. We cannot marry into that family, not with what the previous generation has done. To do so would bring shame upon us, do you understand?"

"If it brings shame upon us, then why do you want to work with two-thirds of the current generation?"

"There's a difference between marrying in to a family and having a close alliance with it. Get going, Kanzashi-chan. I have plans to lay."

Kanzashi shook her head and prepared for sleep.

XXXXXXXX

_**Tabane**_

Alice's Manor

_Well, I can just invite _everyone_, then!_

Tabane spun in her chair a few times, before stopping and waiting for the dizziness to wear off.

She got up and made a couple of joyous laps around the house while frantically typing instructions in a keyboard and computer screen floating in front of her.

She crashed into a wall, got up, and kept on running, eventually stopping in her main workshop.

She ran over to the back, examined the hulking tubes in front of her, then finished her email.

_Well, Ikkun will come as an employee, of course._

_Chi-chan should stay behind, though. I don't want her to be there, we can meet up at the Academy after._

_Oooh! I could try to talk Ikkun into helping with the Hunters! I bet if he joins, we could get Chi-chan to come along as well!_

_Yaay!_

_Hm... September 7th sounds good to me!_

_Yes, I'll contact Makkun about it!_

_Yaay!_

XXXXXXXX

AN: Sorry about the delay. I had a pretty severe case of writer's block and didn't want to write drama for a while.

On the bright side, I now have a very good idea about what's going to happen in Part 3.

On the down side, it might be biweekly updates for a bit


	18. Part 2, Chapter 5: Oncoming Storm

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text _means point-of-view character's thoughts

AN: I haven no excuses about how incredibly long the wait for this chapter is. I'm just going to say that I'm happy to be putting this out, and that Real Life can be worse some months more than others.

I must admit, these next few chapters are something that I've been looking forward to putting out since I started on this story. This one is mostly set-up, but the next chapter is, most certainly, something that I've been looking forward to.

XXXXXXXX

_**Kaede Watanabe**_

September 5th, evening

Tokyo Bay, Japan, Warehouse district

The woman was running through the rain, all formality and politeness forsaken. She didn't bother with stealth; she had made a weak excuse and left her job as soon as it had been long enough that nobody would be suspicious.

After all, this information was far, far too important to just wait on. Sarashiki-sama needed to hear this.

Too many lives were at stake.

Nobody would be prepared otherwise.

And if Kaede died delivering this information, well, if she got it to Sarashiki-sama, her life wasn't as important, anyway.

She was almost halfway to the contact point now, and almost nobody was near her location.

She needed to get there, the exact date of the invasion had been confirmed. She was the only one who knew, as she was the only agent who had connections in the Combat Division.

The rain poured more heavily.

She fell, face-first.

It was something to be expected in the rain, when running fast enough, after all.

The hole in her head, the blood washing into the rain, that wasn't expected.

Two men in dark suits collected and disposed of her corpse, and with it, the only chance to prevent the coming bloodshed.

The wind whipped upon the waves.

It was time for war.

XXXXXXXX

**Part 2, Chapter 5: Oncoming Storm**

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

August 27th

IS Academy, Student Council Room

Ichika had felt on edge, ever since he had received Tabane's invitation about two and a half weeks prior. Although she didn't seem to show it, he knew from Tatenashi's behaviors that she was equally on edge. It felt like something major was about to happen, but neither of them knew what it was.

It was driving them crazy.

And so the meeting went on, dragging constantly, monotonously forward in Ichika's overstimulated mind, and all Ichika could do was wait for it to end. Tatenashi eventually straightened the papers in her hand, and called the meeting to a close. Ichika got up and began to leave with everyone else.

"Ichika-kun, could you please stay behind?" Tatenashi asked.

A harmless question, one that would sometimes be expected to come from the President to her Vice-President.

"Sure, let me tell Char that I'll be a bit late and to head to her dorm room without me."

Ichika walked out long enough to send Charlotte a quick text, before stepping back in.

"What do you need, Sarashiki-kaichou? I assume that this isn't a social conversation. You've been on just as much of an edge as I have been these past couple weeks."

Tatenashi sighed.

"Yes, I have. It feels like something's coming soon. Sometime within the next month."

Ichika raised an eyebrow.

"Should I convince Tabane-nee to cancel or change the date on the announcement?"

Tatenashi shook her head.

"No, I don't think it'll be that soon. It's only just been announced to the public, I doubt that it'll be too much of an issue. I've heard that everyone with a personal machine has been invited, and when they contacted their sponsoring companies, they were all ordered to go."

Ichika nodded.

"Yes, my situation is a bit different, but I'll be there, as well."

Tatenashi laughed.

"I am well aware of your employer, Ichika-kun. What I have you here for is to formally invite you into my organization, which is probably the only group that actively fights against Phantom Task. We are directly affiliated with Interpol, though only unofficially, of course."

Ichika narrowed his eyes at Tatenashi.

_Finally, the chance I've been waiting for._

"What about child soldier laws?"

"What about them?"

_Seriously?_

"You can't honestly expect me to believe that I can become one of your soldiers, can you? I'm a minor at the moment. At the very least, I'd need permission from my guardian."

"We have ways around that. Our organization is considered an exception, mostly because of the age at which most girl begin their training in IS piloting, and most of the Interpol member nations allow us to recruit early."

"Shouldn't you be giving your resources to Interpol?"

"We can't. The Alaska Treaty gets in the way. We only work under the capacity to defeat the terrorist organization known as Phantom Task. It's not war when your enemy is a terrorist organization. I doubt that it'll escalate to something that could be called war, anyway."

Ichika looked at Tatenashi blankly.

"If you honestly think that, then you haven't spent nearly enough time thinking of everything that could go wrong. Right now, you should have three questions that need answering; where are they getting the money to mass-produce ISs like the golems, where are they getting the resources to mass-produce ISs like the golems, and where do they have the space to do so." He paused to take a breath.

"Personally, I'd invest in a good spy satellite to try and track down their base and internalize your intelligence division to monitor the importation and exportation of weaponry and materials commonly used in ISs. You'd probably be even better off if you could get the information from Tabane-nee on the base materials used in an IS Core, or at least the more common ones. That way, you could see which countries are funding Phantom Task, because I think it rather unlikely for them to be funded by just a large series of companies and they have to have a base somewhere. Once they come after an area, the very first time that they attack a nation, I'd be willing to bet my entire work account that a war will erupt."

_Not that I'd actually want to do that bet, but I like the odds._

Tatenashi's eyes widened slightly. She was well aware of the size of Ichika's work account. She sighed and shook her head.

"Ichika-kun, I'm in charge here and I think you're wrong."

Ichika laughed bitterly and started pacing the room.

"And _I_ think you're being naive. They just razed a military base for an IS. They have access to _dozens_ of ISs that are just as powerful as a conventional IS."

Tatenashi sighed.

"Ichika-kun, this meeting is over. You are dismissed."

"Very well then, Sarashiki-kaichou. Just let me remind you of one thing: They have, almost certainly, reverse-engineered IS core production at the very least for their golems. If they can do that with an IS core, imagine what they can do with a working 4th generation IS."

And with that, Ichika shut the door.

_She doesn't even understand what they're willing to do? Or was she pissed because _I_ was the one telling it to her._

As Ichika walked down the hall, a voice said behind him.

"I heard you, and I think you're right, too. Nee-sama still hasn't figured it out yet. It kind of depresses me."

Ichika sighed.

_She shows up behind me so often now that I don't even mind it any more._

"You both have your issues. I can see why she wants to pretend everything's fine, but it's still more than a little frustrating."

Kanzashi laughed with a slightly incredulous expression on her face.

"Hooh? And what, praytell, is _my_ issue?"

Ichika stopped and looked at her blankly.

"You don't know? Have I warned you yet about asking me questions like that?"

Kanzashi snorted.

"I'm a big girl. I can handle it."

Ichika sighed.

"Fine, then. You have a deep-seated inferiority complex, combined with elder sister worship, to the point where you can't picture yourself as anything other than inferior to your sister in every way. At the same time, you seem to want your sister to believe that you can be of use to her, implying that you were once close. Most likely, considering the age of your family, you had maids who were rather... loose-lipped, which, combined with a lack of encouraging parental presence beyond your maids, cause you to constantly hear from everyone around you that you were inferior to your sister. You then became bitter and world-weary, managing to form your personality around it."

Kanzashi laughed bitterly.

"That sounds like somebody else that I know."

Ichika smiled dully to himself before continuing to walk down the halls. When he reached the stairs, he stopped and turned, meeting her eyes.

"The difference between you and I is that _I_ decided to _make_ myself worthy of my sister."

Ichika left, leaving Kanzashi feeling slightly frustrated.

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

August 27th, night

Phantom Task headquarters

The Phantom Task board of directors, as well as Squall, Madoka and the Seasons, were gathered in a meeting room.

"As we can all see, Saudia Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Afganistan, as well as several North African tribes, have all made their final decisions." Akemi announced.

_I wonder if Akemi-obaasan is really _just_ in charge of staff..._

"So, after our initial strike, we should plan to unite them under our banner and crush all of the rebels and active antagonistic forces?" Squall asked.

"Of course. Everyone _is_ aware of the rescheduling, right?" Akemi asked.

A chorus of affirmatives sounded around the room.

"Excellent. Madoka-chan, how are the upgrades coming?"

"I'm almost done with Spring's machine. Winter is completely done, and I would recommend that she come to me for some training to get used to the upgrades in her IS. Summer's doesn't need an upgrade, and I've gotten it back into working condition with our standard modifications. Autumn's is still in the planning stages, but our plans for the raid only involved three seasons, anyway, so leaving Autumn behind shouldn't be an issue."

Akemi nodded.

"That's very good, Madoka-chan. Make sure to get Spring's machine done by the end of the month."

"What's next on the agenda?" Squall grunted.

Houki sat in her chair, smiling to herself.

_I'll be back for you soon, Ichika. Don't worry, you won't have to wait much longer. I'll get you away from those people who have lied to you and stolen you away from me..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

August 28th, after classes

Ichika left the classroom as soon as class had let out, heading straight for his room.

Jessica followed him right out, with Charlotte and Laura following her. Ichika sighed to himself and stopped in an open area outside the class buildings.

"What do you want, Vasquez-san?" He asked.

"I want you to break up with Charlie."

Laura took out her notebook.

Charlotte's eyes narrowed.

Ichika's eyes widened.

_What? What the hell is wrong with her?_

"Did Char ask you to do this, Vasquez-san?"

"No, of course not. I'm doing this because it's the right thing."

"Right thing?" Ichika mimicked.

"Of course. You aren't good enough for her, after all."

Ichika's eyebrow twitched.

"I'm pretty sure that Char is mature enough to decide that for herself."

Jessica huffed and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, but can you even love her? Or are you too self-absorbed? What can you give her? With the way you act, she's better off going back to her father, you know."

_Congratulations, Vasquez-san. You've managed to piss me off._

"You know, I wondered the same thing myself, once. But I decided that it doesn't matter, because I do love her and we'll support each other."

Jessica flinched slightly.

"Fine, then. If that's what you think. I challenge you to a match. If I win, you break up with Charlotte. If you win, you can keep her."

Ichika took a couple of deep breaths.

_Don't start yelling don't start yelling don't start yelling..._

"Absolutely not. In case you hadn't noticed, Char is _not_ some weak-willed little girl incapable of making decisions. She is her own person, and as such neither you, nor especially me, have any right to making decisions for her."

Ichika glared at her.

"I'll let Char deal with you from here. If you'll excuse me, I have some modifications to make to my IS. Char, Mädchen, can you two meet me at training ground three in an hour? There are a couple I think we could use practice with."

Jessica gaped at Ichika as he turned and walked to the arena.

Ichika smirked when he heard the sharp smack echo across the courtyard. He spared a quick glance behind himself to see Charlotte lowering her hand and Jessica nursing a reddened cheek.

He shook his head before continuing to his destination.

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

August 28th, an hour later

Training Ground 3

Ichika, Laura and Charlotte were gathered in a triangle at the training ground.

"Char, do you have any weapons that could be used in CQC?"

"Umm... my list says that I've got some pistols with whose barrels have been hardened to block attacks with... would that work?"

Ichika thought for a moment. He tilted his head side to side, eyes closed, as though he was picturing something.

"Yeah, that'll work." He said after a moment's deliberation.

Charlotte smiled and materialized one pistol in each hand.

"Let's get started, then." She said.

XXXXXXXX

_**Tabane**_

August 30th, night

Sarashiki family mansion

Tabane was settling in to a guest room in the Sarashiki family estate. Matsuda was in another one, but he was at the Academy to see if he could go drinking with Chifuyu.

She was excited. She was almost bouncing off the walls. She was counting the seconds until she ate, so that she could go to work on some theory for her new invention.

And so, when a maid knocked on Tabane's door to let her know that dinner was prepared, the poor maid was nearly knocked over as Tabane went running straight to the dining room.

After eating far faster than was necessary, Tabane ran back to her room and read a new email that she had received.

Taking a look of grim determination, Tabane made a phone call.

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

August 30th, night

IS Academy Dorms, Ichika's Room

His phone was ringing.

He had just finished a shower and was making dinner, a very attention-sensitive dinner, and his damned phone was ringing.

Ichika sighed and checked the caller ID.

_Shit._

Ichika flipped the phone open.

"What is it, Tabane-nee?" He asked in an impatient voice.

"Ichika. There's something important I need to tell you." Tabane began.

Ichika pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What?" He asked bitingly.

"There will be a confrontation, most likely within the next month. We don't know when, we don't know where, but there will be one. Phantom Task is making its move. It looks like Western Europe and Northeastern Africa, but we're not sure. The increase in weapons dealing in those areas are the only hints that something big is happening, but you can't be too careful. Especially when all of the other weapons stocking seems to be reactionary."

"Why are you risking informing me of this, even using our secure line?"

"Because there is something that you need to be aware of. Normally in an IS, the full output of all weapons are used, because that's the easiest way to ensure powerful attacks. However, I got a bit... carried away... when I was making Byakushiki. I overclocked it, basically. There's a limiter on some of its features. It limits the output of Fubuki and the attack power of Yukihira."

"Okay, that's simple, and sensible. What's the password?"

"Ichika, I need you to promise me that you won't use this unless you are willing to walk the path of blood. Yukihira is not- unsealed, at least- a weapon for competition. It's a weapon that can and will kill the pilot of an IS. It cuts straight through shields of all sorts. It's part of why Phantom Task seems to have it out for you. Byakushiki is specifically tuned to you, and so no other pilot can use it. You will need strong allies, people that can stand beside you in this, but you must be careful, for if you hit them with your attacks, I cannot guarantee anything. You will have to kill. Do you accept this burden? Are you willing to do this, for victory, for vengeance?"

_There's only one answer._

_There always has been._

_There always will be._

"Yes."

"If you're sure, then. The password is..."

XXXXXXXX

_**Laura**_

September 1st, an hour after classes.

At the mall.

Rin was excitedly looking through all of the shop windows, running from store to store. Laura was looking around her surroundings with an expression of bemused curiosity. Cecilia looked, as usual, a bit haughty, but was chatting amicably with Charlotte and Jessica, anyway.

_This seems overly superfluous. I suppose all civilians are superfluous, though. Besides the Commander, at least. No, he doesn't count as a civilian. Unlike the President, who seems to be a civilian who thinks herself a commander._

Ichika and Dan lagged slightly behind. Ichika, slightly tense, kept on sneaking furtive glances about their surroundings, but whenever he saw Charlotte smiling ahead, a small, smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Dan was sneaking furtive glances at the silver-haired maiden among them, and opened his mouth- only to snap it shut again- every few minutes.

Jessica spotted an arcade and pointed excitedly, dragging Charlotte and Cecilia in behind her. Laura followed them, taking out her pen and notepad as she walked. Ichika and Dan followed them without any hesitation, and Rin rolled her eyes before coming in as well.

They spent a few hours in the arcade, and Laura smiled softly to herself as they exited. Jessica and Dan saw a photo booth, and they immediately shoved Ichika and Charlotte in it.

Ichika sighed lightly and Charlotte just smiled indulgently before wrapping her arms around his neck. Ichika put one hand around her waist and ran the other through Charlotte's hair, bending down to rest his forehead on Charlotte's. Ichika gave a small, genuine smile as Charlotte smiled up at him serenely. They barely noticed the flash of the camera, but Ichika did feel annoyed when a pair of hands yanked him out of the photo booth before Jessica grinned and took a picture with Charlotte. After that picture had been taken, Rin shrugged and dragged a slightly distracted Laura into the booth while Cecilia gave a small grin and followed them in. The next picture had all the girls shoving their faces in the camera. There was a picture of Dan grinning, with an arm around a flustered Laura's shoulder. A few others were taken, and everyone got a copy of the set.

Laura smiled softly as they all walked to a restaurant.

_Yes. Memories. Something worthwhile._

_This is why I can stay here._

_Some things are worth protecting more than destroying._

_Some things can be more important than Duty._

XXXXXXXX

_**Madoka**_

September 6th, Evening

Madoka was looking up at the roof above her, holding a white pendant with a small black dot in the main body over her eyes. On the dresser next to her are three letters.

_Tomorrow, we leave at first light._

_Tomorrow, we kill._

_Tomorrow, we change everything._

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

September 7th, Afternoon

Tabane's event hall

Ichika was dressed in a formal suit, standing in a corner in the back of the stage, going over his part in the premier. He was here to make a speech about Tabane's artificial eyes, to line up with the release of her new robotic limbs.

Matsuda was frantically trying to find Tabane and get her to behave.

The security team had asked Ichika if he could deploy his IS in the case of an emergency, to get Tabane out quickly. He told them that, as Tabane's company was the one that made his IS, she was perfectly capable of giving him deployment permission, and that he'd ask her for it. When Ichika found Tabane, after having had to help Matsuda find her, she had given him IS deployment permission easily.

Tabane was in near-constant motion, and Ichika and Matsuda had eventually managed to convince her to help get the electronics set up on the stage while Matsuda handled the external parts of the conference.

It was at this time that Ichika wished that his sister had decided to come that day. Chifuyu would easily have gotten in, and she could have kept Tabane on a tight leash. However, Chifuyu had papers to grade, and other things that Ichika wasn't as sure about to do at the Academy, and all of the Representative Candidates were only going to be at this event, anyway, along with their company representatives.

Ichika had given Chifuyu the number for his work phone. He wasn't sure whether or not anything was going to happen, but if Ichika does anything, he always covers his bases. When he has the time.

Ichika sighed and ran a hand through his hair, before opening his normal phone and doing some light reading.

_Hmm... maybe if I applied this kind of drive to the shields- wait, no, where does it get the energy for that? I need to find a concrete value on the energy in a core, but I somehow doubt that it's any sane amount. Besides that, where would the energy from the impacts _go_, in the first place..._

_Shit! No wonder... It's converting the impacts to a different type of energy..._

_If they converted everything to heat, that would explain why the target would suddenly stop moving..._

_But how does it gain the level of precision that it's capable of doing so without any pilot input? That requires a more advanced degree of AI technology than we..._

_Then again, this _is_ Tabane-nee we're talking about here._

_Okay, now the question is how..._

_I'm a step closer to AIC, at least._

And so, Ichika stood there in his corner backstage. Eventually, one of the people running frantically around told him to make himself useful and go outside to help the people there welcome everyone in. Sighing, Ichika dragged himself out front...

Only to be sent right back inside. Ichika found himself a chair and waited. A text appeared on his phone while he was reading.

**From: Char**

**All of the Representative Candidates are here. My father wants to talk to you. Can you come out?**

Sighing, Ichika snapped his phone shut and made his way out to the front area, where Claude Dunois was standing with Charlotte. The other IS Pilots were already entering the presentation room. Claude was standing with Charlotte in a corner further away from the reporters. Ichika inclined his head at Claude.

"Dunois-san." Ichika stated as he held out his hand. Claude calmly shook it.

"Orimura-kun, I must say that it pleases me greatly to hear about you and my daughter."

Ichika smiled thinly.

_What is this bastard up to?_

"I thank you for your blessing, Dunois-san. Is there anything else that you need from me?"

"Yes. I was wondering if you were interested in receiving some form of lessons in IS engineering and business management from some of my employees in the future, as I understand that those are subjects that interest you."

_Hm... On the one hand, he could be trying to make feel obligated..._

_On the other, this seems more like a peace offering than anything, maybe an attempt to bring us into a more civil relationship?_

_I'll take that any day. I really should get along with Char's father._

_Besides, even though I can learn much from Tabane-nee, just seeing how sane people work on ISs will probably help my abilities._

"Thank you very much. I'll accept your offer, Dunois-san. Is there anything else you would like from me?"

Claude smiled warmly. Ichika almost blinked.

_What... The... Hell?_

"Actually, I was hoping that you and Charlotte could come along with myself and some of my company's major partners to a Christmas Ball with many other IS manufacturing companies. I don't want to impose, but I think it would probably be a good opportunity for you..."

_It almost seems like he _wants_ to get along with me now._

_That's... unusual..._

Ichika looked at Charlotte, who smiled radiantly and nodded.

"Again, thank you for your offer, Dunois-san. I'll accept. Please, contact myself or Char with details."

Ichika bowed, then checked his phone as it vibrated.

"I'm sorry, Dunois-san, Char, but I need to return backstage now. It seems like we'll be starting pretty soon."

"Of course, Orimura-kun." Claude said. He walked into the conference room.

Charlotte looked around. Not noticing any reporters paying attention to them at the moment, she hugged Ichika and kissed him briefly. Ichika wrapped his arms around her waist. When Charlotte pulled back, Ichika kissed her neck briefly and took in the smell of her hair.

Charlotte sighed, then gently pulled his head back.

"We need to get going."

Ichika smiled brightly at her.

"Right."

Ichika continued down the hall to a back entrance, while Charlotte went back out the way they came.

Ichika stood straight in the back of the stage as people finished settling and the reporters readied themselves. He sighed.

_This is going to be a long, long afternoon..._

XXXXXXXX

Twenty minutes later...

Surprisingly, to Ichika, at least, Tabane had been managing to keep her audience's attention throughout her presentation.

Her constant energy and zeal had combined, and so people were even more interested in what she had to say than they could have been.

Of course, fully-functioning robotic limbs tend to make people very, very excited.

"The limbs are partially powered by what I once called IS Cores. Due to their new applications, I have renamed these devices to Luminous Cores, and will be filing the patents." Tabane announced.

The audience broke into hushed, excited whispering, and one reporter called,

"Does this mean that we will be able to make more ISs in the near future?"

Tabane frowned and shook her head.

"Nope~! The Luminous Cores in these limbs aren't big enough to power an IS! An IS-sized Luminous Core is something that I will patent, but it won't be produced."

Another reporter asked,

"Will these limbs need recharging?"

Tabane grinned.

"No~! They're partially powered by the energy that the body produces, so they'll work like a normal limb without having to recharge the Luminous Core. Hoooweever... I wooould recommend that their users eat and sleep well, because both of those help the body get its energy, anyway!"

Ichika sighed to himself and resisted the urge to put his head in his hands. _Right. She's insane. I think too many people forgot about that..._

Tabane continued her speech, not noticing when Ichika opened his work phone. He stared at it, eyes widening.

_Shit. No. Shit just doesn't cover it..._

Ichika subtly walked out the back of the stage to the security area. He flashed the text at the Chief of Security, one of Tabane's permanent staff members, who paled.

"Any reason to assume that it's a fake?" The man asked.

"None. She's responsible, wouldn't call a Class A unless it's really that bad. Think we can get the Representatives to help without causing an international incident?" Ichika asked.

The Chief of Security thought for a moment.

"Quite likely. Their superiors and the Japanese Government are already here, and those are the only people whose permission they'd need to deploy."

"Keep Tatenashi-Kaichou and one other Representative back here for security to escort the VIPs to safety. I'll take the others Representatives with me to the Academy." Ichika told the man.

The Chief of Security nodded in agreement.

"Right. End the event now?"

"I believe so. Tell Matsuda-san." Ichika said.

Ichika took a deep breath, and started a text.

**From: Vice-President Orimura**

**To: All IS Academy Personal Machine Holders**

**Orimura-sensei has officially informed me of an attack on the Academy. She's estimated it at Class A. Receive deployment permission and get backstage, we don't have much time.**

Ichika leaned against the back wall as Personal Machine Holders, their bosses and Tabane's employees came filing in to the room.

Once they had all arrived, Ichika looked over the Representatives.

"Do you all understand that this is the real deal?"

Ichika heard a chorus of 'yes's.

"Are you going to go?"

Another series of 'yes's.

"Do you have deployment permission?"

Their various superiors sighed, then nodded.

"Okay, then. I don't know your names very well, so I'm sorry if I get things wrong. Tatenashi-Senpai and Cayce-san, would you two be so kind as to aid the evacuation of this area and escort Tabane-san to safety? I'll take command of the operation to re-take the Academy."

Tatenashi nodded.

"Sure thing, Ichika-kun. We'll go now."

Tatenashi and Cayce left.

"Alright, everyone. I'm taking point. On our flight there, I'll set up four three-man teams. Stick with your team. Your primary objective is your own survival. Do _not_ try to go down fighting, the enemy will most likely try to kill you. Don't take overly risky moves, because in the end, I want all of us out of here alive, along with as many of the teachers and students as possible. Hopefully, they've made it to the shelters by now. That should make life easier. Do you understand?" Ichika asked.

"Yes, sir!" They chorused.

"Good. Suit up and deploy. I want us there now."

XXXXXXXX

AN: I wanted to get this one out, because I'm really, really excited about the direction I'm taking this story.


	19. Part 2, Chapter 6: Battle of IS Academy

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means point-of-view character's thoughts

AN: Note, this chapter, as well as most of the following ones, are going to be noticeably more violent than the previous. I don't think it's enough to warrant a rating increase, but I just wanted to warn everyone.

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

September 7th

Pacific Ocean, five miles west of IS Academy

Houki was flying in front of two human pilots in their ISs and around thirty Golems. To her left was Spring, with a similar force, and to Spring's left was Winter, with another similar group. Leading them in point was Squall, piloting the Silver Gospel.

_When I first proposed this idea, I didn't expect it to go like this so quickly._

_I should have, though._

_It doesn't matter. The targets for this operation would be the next generation to oppose us. They are weak now, and we shall bring them down._

_While we're at it, we shall secure the resources that are within this city. That's why we have so many soldiers, after all._

"We'll take the third-years." Winter proposed. Winter's section had the most experienced soldiers in it, so it was evident that she'd be taking care of the most experienced students.

"That's fine. Summer, do you want the first-years or the second-years?"

Houki thought for a moment.

"I want to go after the firsts. I'll handle them, and at the moment, my section does have the smallest amount of experience."

"Spring, you'll do the second-years, then. First, however, we're taking out the teachers. Summer, are you sure about their location?"

"Yes, Squall-sama. We won't need more than three golems to take them out."

"Good. We'll have the golems attack that building first, then. Even if some survive the initial barrage, we'll just come back for them after we've dealt with the students. We probably have about two hours until the Representatives find out about this and get back. I want us out of the situation in ninety. Move out."

XXXXXXXX

"The battle of IS Academy marked the beginning of the first large-scale war between IS-wielding superpowers. It was the first time that the organization Phantom Task made a public appearance, and triggered what would later become known as the Phantom War. It was a truly tragic day, when people realized that the first massacre wasn't going to be the last, or even the most devastating. The Phantom War was a war dominated by champions and heroes, robots and infantry, organizations and government."

-Noriko Mayuzami, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, in the preface to her historic account, _The Phantom War: Of Heroes and Traitors_.

XXXXXXXX

**Part 2, Chapter 6: The Battle of IS Academy, Part I**

XXXXXXXX

_**Chifuyu**_

September 7th

IS Academy Teacher's lounge

Chifuyu and the other teachers had been taking a short coffee break from grading papers, along with the other teachers, when she saw something in the horizon. As she watched, a horde- and that was the only suitable term- of ISs were flying towards the Academy.

Eyes widening, she called,

"Inform the students to enter emergency procedure 7-A!"

The other teachers gawked at her.

Glaring, Chifuyu pointed at the incoming horde. They gasped, and while they were frantically trying to get to the announcement rooms, she took out her phone.

**To: Ichika**

**From: Chifuyu**

**Come now. Class A Scenario. At least 100.**

"What are you doing?" Yamada asked, as she packed the mainframe to take the backups with her.

"Getting the Personal Machine Holders back here! We can't afford to let everyone die here!"

Three beeps were heard on the school announcement system.

"All students-"

Whatever else was in the message was cut off by a massive explosion, as the shield surrounding IS Academy were blown apart.

_How the hell?_

Chifuyu gaped in shock for a couple of milliseconds before beginning to run down to where the ISs were stored.

A wave of missiles flew straight towards them. Chifuyu heard the explosions behind her, as the teacher's lounge was annihilated, felt something brush her forehead, and passed out.

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

"We've got them!" Spring called.

As the smoke cleared, they could see quite clearly that the Academy's central spire was collapsing towards the practice arenas, and there was a massive, gaping hole covered in rubble where the teacher's lounge used to be.

"Operation Start!" Squall called.

Houki's squad banked off to the first-year dorms. Withdrawing her katanas, Houki fired two shots with each, reducing the building to ruins.

"Bank off and hunt for survivors!" Houki called to her team.

The women and golems flew off. Gunfire and screams could be heard throughout the island.

"Squall-sama, may I go and destroy the classrooms?" Houki asked.

"Permission granted, Summer. Go wild. We'll probably be done with the Academy in ten."

Resolute, Houki flew to the school buildings.

XXXXXXXX

_**Utsuho Nohotoke**_

The initial attack left the central spire a jagged stick pointing in the sky, the upper tower and the spiraling floors below it falling down to the arena at the building's base. The arena itself's roof had caved in, with the combined weight of the top floors of the central tower resting on it, they had flattened a good portion of the arena and stands.

The first year dorms had been reduced to a devastated, flaming husk of their former size. The second-year dorms were being fired at, and the distant gunshots and screams could already be heard.

Utsuho was with her little sister and the other non-representative members of the Student Council when it happened. Utsuho realized that, as the member with the most seniority present, the other girls would turn to her.

"First-years, evacuate." She commanded

"Second-years, send out a message to the student body. Tell them to evacuate to the shelters, and get the third-years into the Uchiganes to help evacuate."

Utsuho got up, the other third-years in the council following her. The first years left after them, and they were almost at the shelters before they heard another explosion, and looked to the side as the second-year dorms were reduced to rubble.

"Go! Hurry! Hurry!" Utsuho called.

_What's going on?_

_Why did it have to be when our Representatives were out? Why?_

The girls heard the rumbling above them as the classrooms were collapsed.

Running, they went down the flights of stairs. On the second floor, a woman in a bright red IS appeared next to them.

"Shino?" Honne Nohotoke asked, confused.

Houki turned to Honne.

"Oh, hello, Nohotoke-san. I would have thought that you would all be in the shelters by now." Houki said.

"Shino, what are you doing here?"

Houki smiled beatifically.

"What am I doing here? That's simple."

Houki stabbed Honne in the heart.

"I'm here to kill you all."

"Shi...no...?" Honne cried forlornly as she collapsed on the ground.

Utsuho ran faster, tears streaming down her face. Some of the other third-years followed. They heard a few muted screams and thumps and saw a flash of light as the stragglers fell.

Finally, they got to the bottom floor, right by the stairs, and pulled open the trap door.

Some other students were almost there as well. Utsuho pulled the door to the shelters open and they all quickly ran in. Holding the door open as long as she could, she shut and locked it behind them all.

"We need to get to the shelters. Now. Third-years, come. We're going to the Uchiganes."

Utsuho led the way through the tunnels. The other six third-years followed her out, and the younger years were in the back.

"We're going. I want every other student in the shelters."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Running as fast as they could in the tunnels under the Academy, Utsuho and the girls with her shuddered in response to every rumbling explosion.

After a what seemed like hours, the girls made it to the Uchigane storage room, where three dozen other third-years were already suiting up.

"What's the situation, Utsuho-san?" One of them asked.

"Horrific. We're going up there. Groups of four. Two people to fight, two to evacuate."

"Right! Let's go!"

_God, please let the Representatives get here in time..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

"Squall-sama, this is going too smoothly. There has been barely any resistance from the Third-years and there aren't nearly enough of them. Do you think we missed a couple of teachers and the Academy is actually organized?" Winter asked.

_Shit. Shit, I forgot._

"That's an oversight on my part, Winter." Houki stated.

"Oh? Please, go on, Summer." Squall ordered.

"I wasn't very familiar with the charter and we were never in a situation where it would be necessary, but I just remember something. I think the charter says something about Student Council members being able to take command of a situation in the absence of any teachers. If I recall correctly, the only time you could catch a bunch of Academy students without any commanding officer is if it was group of girls in the same year without any Class Representatives present."

Squall sighed.

"Remember this next time, Summer."

Houki silently let out a sigh of relief.

_There could be a next time. Good._

"It doesn't matter! Just means that some of them will die in glorious, honorable combat. Hey, need any help, Summer-chan?" Spring asked.

_I don't get just how she gets along with Winter so well..._

"I'm fine, Spring. Let's get this done and move on to the city." Houki called.

"Right, right." Spring sighed.

Houki flew up higher to get a better look around the school. She noticed that there were groups of students in school ISs flying around and evacuating while avoiding their Golems.

"Spring? Do you see this?"

Houki could easily imagine Spring licking her lips.

"Yes. I'll send some toys to play with them. If they do well, I might even fight them after."

_I really don't like her._

XXXXXXXX

_**Utsuho**_

The evacuations were going surprisingly smoothly. For some reason, no enemies had shown up yet. Utsuho was confused, because any ISs around here would attract attention.

And then, after evacuating the last of the students in the cafeteria, she heard the screeching wail, right before she felt the impact behind her.

Turning around, she saw a crater just behind her group, and a _thing_ in front of her, arms raised.

This... _thing_ was about twelve feet tall, with the proportions of a human. It had long blades coming out of its elbows. Mounted on each of its shoulders was what looked to be some sort of large gun. Each finger on its hands looked razor-sharp, and there were an incredible number of pits on its arms. Floating on its back, however, were black wings that resembled a dragonfly's. The entire thing was black, with yellow lines crisscrossing areas where a human's blood vessels would be.

Two of Utsuho's teammates tried to shoot at the thing, but the wings glowed and a yellow, triangular barrier appeared. Eyes widening, Utsuho called,

"Back off!"

Of course, as a member of the Student Council, she had _heard_ of the Akatsubaki, but as Houki Shinonono abandoned the Academy after she got it, no one present had actually _seen_ anything of what the world's only fourth-generation IS could do.

However, Utsuho, as a member of the Student Council, had heard enough to recognize Fold-Out Armor when she saw it.

"3105, go around its right and shoot it. I'll go around its left. 3221 and 3510, try to keep its attention on yourselves and hit it when you can. Avoid getting hit by its attacks, we have no idea how hard it hits."

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

Houki had found and killed most of the stragglers who hadn't made it to the shelters yet. At the moment, she was fighting a group of third-years who were doing surprisingly well and seemed to be defending an entrance to a shelter. Her enemies were doing decently.

As in, they were alive.

_This is getting to be pitiful. Their weakness is just disappointing. I should've expected that anyone who doesn't have a Personal Machine wouldn't be as strong as me, but this is just ridiculous. They have a 4-1 advantage against me and I've barely been hit._

Houki sighed.

_Squall-sama wants this done quickly, so I suppose it'll have to be so._

Houki flew, far quicker than she had been previously, and came directly in between the four third-years. She activated her defensive Fold-Out Armor and, while they were trying to attack her, deployed both of her foot blades. Madoka had been modifying Houki's IS, and so the foot blades had the highest output that could be attached without draining energy from the IS's shield energy- like most applications of Fold-Out Armor in Phantom Task ISs.

These weapons are one of the reasons that Phantom Task still has human pilots. They have to lower the output on their weaponry when there is an AI installed into the IS, and so humans hit harder. The AIs actually need more power than that of the IS's built-in life support systems.

Using her two foot blades, Houki stabbed two Third-years through their necks. She removed her feet and used her hands for support as she spun, drastically draining the shield energy of the other two Third-tears as Houki was drenched in her initial two targets' blood.

She used Amatsuki and Karaware to impale the last two Third-years in their chins before quickly slashing both of her swords to get rid of the majority of the blood.

"Squall-sama, I have just dealt with a group of four Third-years. They were guarding a shelter. What are your orders?" Houki asked.

"Enter the shelter. Kill everyone."

"Squall-sama, the shelters are connected by a network of tunnels that lead outside the city. Should I go after the other shelters, too?"

"Yes. Do us proud, Summer."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Houki blasted the door to the shelter with Amatsuki once, twice, three times. She broke through the first door. A metal door, that she recalled to be at least three feet thick, was awaiting her.

"Send Golem Summer Squads 2 and 3 to my location. I want them guarding this area while I break through. Also, send in the Weathers. If I have them with me, we can get this done sooner and cover more ground."

"Of course. It will be done, Summer."

XXXXXXXX

_**Utsuho**_

The fight against the golem wasn't going too well. Her team was coordinating their attacks, but it just took all of their hits and fired lasers. Neither of the swordswomen within the group could get close enough to the thing to actually attack it, and just watched in frustration as their companions tried to shoot it and either missed or didn't do any damage.

And then, the alarms began blaring. Three low-pitched whoops.

_Somebody has pierced the first door to a shelter? This is getting insane._

"Nohotoke-san, go and see which shelter has been compromised."

Utsuho nodded.

"Thanks. I'll be back soon, hopefully."

_Where are the Representatives?_

"This is SC-3! Status report!" Utsuho called while she was in the sky to try and find the breached shelter entrance.

"We've lost contact with almost half of the teams!" Came the response.

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

The Representatives gasped as the Academy came into view. Smoke was coming up from almost everywhere, and there seemed to be giants roaming the air and land around the Academy.

_Damn it. Damn it. We can see it now._

"Right. I want everyone in groups of three."

"Dunois, Huang, and Alcott- team 1."

"Sarashiki, Bodewig, and Vasquez- team 2."

"Moressi, Welkin, and Hamilton- team 3."

Alessandra Moressi, a Third-year, from Italy, along with Tina Hamilton, the Second-year American Representative, and Sara Welkin, the Second-year English Representative, entered formation.

"Acosta, Castro, and Mannan will be team 4."

Camila Acosta, Mariana Castro, and Aditi Mannan, Second-year representatives of Spain, Brazil, and India, respectively.

"What about you, Commander?" Laura asked.

"Call me Orimura or Vice-President on this channel, please. I'm going on my own. If this is who I think it is, it's to our advantage that I encounter as many of the unique machines here as we can manage."

Ichika looked over.

"We're almost there. Take your positions, your objective is to aid all students you see. Stick with your groups. Entering the Academy channel in thirty."

_Damn it. Just hold out a little longer, girls._

_We'll be there soon._

XXXXXXXX

_**Utsuho**_

Utsuho had found the area where the shelters were being penetrated. Two dozen of golems were surrounding a gaping hole in the ground. She quickly flew back and out of their range of vision.

"Now, now, girlie. Are you just going to abandon your friends like that?" A woman asked.

Utsuho screamed. The woman's voice was dripping with excitement and bloodlust.

Turning around, gun in hand, she fired.

The woman before Utsuho was in a green IS, with long, claw-like hands. Gripped in both hands was a trident whose points seemed to be made of light. The machine had white, almost angelic-looking wings. A large, green, and scaly tail came out from the machine's hips. The bone-white legs were long and skinny, almost ending at points at the tips. The pilot had dark brown skin and a long nose, but that was all that could be derived from her facial features, as she was wearing a bone-white mask that covered her entire face. The mask itself was smooth, with small eyeholes that Utsuho couldn't see into, and long fangs that covered her upper lips.

The woman in this serpentile IS smiled ferally and licked her lips.

Utsuho took aim.

The woman was faster. Bringing her trident up, she stabbed and destroyed Utsuho's rifle. She stabbed Utsuho once in the stomach, and just the force of the impact was enough to send Utsuho flying back to the other members of her team, just in time to watch the golem that they had been fighting kill her teammates.

Laughing madly now, Utsuho's assailant reached back for a second strike, going straight for Utsuho's head.

Only to have her trident knocked to the side by a sudden laser blast.

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

Houki grit her teeth. Breaking into the shelter took longer than she had expected, and she really wanted to rejoin the fighting up top. She rolled her eyes in exasperation as she cut down the last student in the first shelter.

She started into the tunnels, raising an eyebrow as she noticed that the signals with her golems had been cut off.

_Must be too far underground. No matter, Breeze or Blossom will take command._

Looking about, she contemplated which direction to go next.

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Ichika swore under his breath. These new-model golems were better armed than he had expected, but he had decided to bring teams 3 and 4 with him, and they made short work of the bunch. Ichika poked his head into the hole by the shelter that they had been defending, and saw that the doors had been broken down. He flew down to look a little further, but when he saw the red dripping down the once-white walls of the room and outer tunnel, and the stench hit him, he turned around, fighting back vomit and tears.

After getting back to the top, Ichika opened up the general Academy comm channel.

"This is Ichika Orimura! As Vice President of the Student council, unless any teachers are willing to take over, I am formally taking command of the defense of the Academy. If you are any of those people and have any objections to my taking of command, speak up now."

He heard nothing on the other line.

"Right, then. Whoever has been in charge of defense until now, report."

"This is Utsuho Nohotoke, sir. I must say, it is great to hear you, Vice President. May I ask who is with you?"

"Every Representative save our President and one other, who are currently escorting Professor Shinonono and several VIPs to safety. How many people do you have left?"

"We started with forty-two, but we've lost contact with about half of the teams. Each one of us is a Third-year."

Ichika closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep, steadying breath.

"Right. I want all of you to redouble efforts on defending the shelters, preferably from the inside. Know that the enemy has at least one powerful member within the tunnels. What are the casualties?"

"I'm pretty sure that almost everyone who didn't make it to the shelters by now is dead. I can personally attest to the deaths of all but three Student Council members at the hands of Houki Shinonono."

Ichika took another deep breath.

_Why, Houki-san?_

"What about the teachers?"

"The first building attacked was the central spire. I'm pretty sure that all of the teachers were in there."

_Chifuyu-nee..._

_No, I don't have time for this. The Charter even states it, we need to save the students first._

"Okay, understood. My order stands. Teams 3 and 4, go underground as well. Split at the fork.

"Yes, sir!" The teams replied.

"Try not to linger. That image will stay through the rest of your lives. Keep that from ever happening again."

They saluted him and went in. Ichika fought back the urge to join them as he flew up to check on the current combat situation.

XXXXXXXX

_**Chifuyu**_

As Chifuyu regained consciousness, she felt a great deal of heat all around her body. When she opened her eyes, she saw fire.

Too much fire.

Chifuyu winced and put a hand to her aching head.

Headache.

Her fellow teachers were around her, all in various levels of injury. She noticed a tall pillar, just to her right, that had a broken arm coming out of the side.

_Goddammit, Houki. Why the hell did you betray us?_

She tried to stand and found that she couldn't put any weight on her right leg, but at least all her limbs were still attached. Chifuyu's phone and communicator were both nonfunctional. She crawled over to the side and saw Yamada, unconscious and bleeding profusely from a forehead injury. She grabbed Yamada's communicator and tuned in to the IS Academy comm channel, just in time to hear.

"This is JPN-02! As Vice President of the Student council, unless any teachers are willing to take over, I am formally taking command of the defense of the Academy. If you are any of those people and have any objections to my taking of command, speak up now." Chifuyu's little brother called.

Chifuyu smiled to herself.

_Idiot, you're more qualified to take over than most of the teachers._

Ichika began outlining some semblance of a plan, and the explosions began.

Chifuyu laughed bitterly before coughing up a little bit of blood.

_Well, it's going to be a bumpy ride, Otouto..._

_Let's hope you're up for it._

_Because there's no way in _hell_ that this is going to end just here._

Sighing, Chifuyu attached the communicator to her head, so that she could listen in on the events, and found herself a pillar to lean on. After a minute of searching, she splinted her right leg and found a cane of sorts. Taking the cane in her right hand, Chifuyu stood.

Chifuyu ripped a strip from her shirt and wrapped it around Yamada's forehead.

Chifuyu slung Yamada over her shoulder and drug her to a seemingly inconspicuous wall, gritting her teeth as she ignored the pain.

_Yamada, you owe me _so_ much after this._

_You'll be paying for my drinks when we're fifty, you got that?_

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

After Cecilia shot the woman with the trident's weapon just before it connected with Utsuho, Charlotte followed up with her own barrage. Rin was already closing the distance.

The woman with a trident _grinned._

"Ichika! We need a scan here!" Charlotte called.

"Got it! Be there in a minute!" Ichika replied.

The woman with a trident began,

"I am Spring of Phantom Task! Tell me now, which countries do you represent?"

"Why should we tell you such a thing?" Charlotte asked.

"Because I asked nicely." Spring replied. Licking her lips, she continued.

"And because I like to know the names of the people that I kill. Makes me know just how strong I am."

Charlotte shuddered.

XXXXXXXX

_**Laura**_

Kanzashi's IS was a modified Uchigane, with further increased maneuverability, an assault rifle, a sniper rifle and a longsword. The Uchigane was a more sea-blue than a standard model.

Jessica's IS had legs that resembled a brown pair of cowboy chaps and cowboy boots for feet. The arms were white with blue stripes on the sides. Both hands were bright red and had normal human finger, and in a sling on her right leg was what looked to be a hunting rifle.

As team 2 surveyed the skies, Jessica let out a roar of primal rage.

"Vasquez! What is it?" Kanzashi asked.

Pointing at a silver IS with large wings, Jessica exclaimed,

"That's Natasha's IS! How the hell did they get it?"

Laura looked over at Jessica.

"Was your 'Natasha' stationed at the Hawaiian base?" Laura asked.

"How did you..."

"The enemy here, Phantom Task, previously used an exceedingly large number of unmanned ISs to raze an American military base in Hawaii. They then moved to the Japanese Pacific coast, where our unit- myself, the Vice President, Alcott, Dunois, Huang and one other engaged them. The Vice President took out around twenty of the enemy machines and dragged four of us away after all of our shields had been drained and one of us betrayed us."

The Phantom Task pilot turned to look at team 2.

"Oh?" The pilot called, using an open channel.

"Is that Tatenashi-chan's little sister? What, tired of being compared to your sister, so you're going to fight us instead? That's just what _she's_ doing, you know. Do you really want to become like _her_?" She taunted.

_She's pushing Sarashiki's buttons. This isn't good..._

Taking a deep breath, Kanzashi calmed herself.

"Are you Squall?" She asked.

"I'm glad to know that there are people here who have heard of me." Squall replied.

"Of course I have. Bodewig, Vasquez, this woman is the highest-ranked member of Phantom Task that does field work. Can either of you see any students that need to be evacuated?"

_This is probably the best tactical decision now..._

"No, Ma'am. Engage?" Laura asked.

"Yes. Let's go." Kanzashi replied.

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Ichika hovered above Spring. Before he could get his scan in, however, he found himself facing a pair of women in ISs.

Ichika sighed.

"I presume that I'm going to have to fight through the two of you, or something?" He asked.

"No. You will have to fight through _all_ of them." One of the women said, snapping her fingers.

Around three dozen golems seemed to fly at him from nowhere, preparing to engage him in combat. The two women flew away.

_Well, shit._

Quickly, Ichika materialized Hyouzan and Fubuki. He fired Fubuki twice at a pair of golems, both of which shielded his attack, though it looked like their Fold-Out Armor had been heavily damaged.

_Excellent, they haven't changed that it's a kinetic shield yet. I can overpower it._

Ichika deployed all but four of his Hyouchuu in laser mode and had them firing at the golems. The twenty Hyouchuu weren't aiming at any golems specifically, but the rain of shots was enough to distract his foes, forcing them to dodge or block rather than attack.

Sadly, there were far too many of them for that few Hyouchuu to stop.

Ichika sighed.

_If I want to help Char, Rin-san and Cecilia-san, I need to fight through these targets. Thirty-six enemies against one? With no surprise attacks or distractions? This isn't going to be good..._

Ichika materialized Hyouzan in his left hand. In his right, he materialized and activated Yukihira, activating all of his speed boosters and Ignition Boost to fly at the foremost Golem.

It kept its shield up, and he cut straight through it, creating a massive gash through its chest and destroying it. He flew to the next one, which made its elbow blades glow green and it tried to stab him with a few other golems. He slashed right through its chest, destroying it.

He flew through the group, blocking attacks constantly and fighting through each golem, trying to make every hit capable of destroying the golems instantly.

Ichika took a quick glance to the battle going on below him.

_Shit, I need to finish soon._

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

Spring had her shield up and a pair of longswords in her hands. Rin tried to attack her with her scimitars, but Spring was blocking them with her shield and longswords.

They pushed against each other, and Spring deactivated her shield. Her swords glowed green, and she pushed against Rin's scimitars, which she slowly cut through.

Spring made a pair of violent, outward slashes with her longswords, which knocked Rin off balance.

Rin charged and fired her Impact Cannon, but when she fired, Spring was behind her.

Spring slashed Rin's back with one of her swords, then kicked Rin away as hard as she could. Rin went flying, and couldn't regain control before crashing in to one of the buildings in the area.

_She can teleport!?_

Charlotte switched to her SMGs and fired as much as she could at Spring, and Cecilia brought out all of her bits to attack Spring.

Spring quickly teleported five times before appearing behind Charlotte.

Each of Cecilia's bits, along with Charlotte's SMGs, fell into two pieces.

Spring took a look behind herself.

"The only reason that you're alive is that Summer and Squall-sama asked me to kill the annoying, blonde one first." She stated.

Charlotte's eyes widened as she turned around with her shotgun and shot at Spring, who teleported to Cecilia. Cecilia fired both of her missiles at Spring, but Spring teleported behind Cecilia, causing the missiles to explode on Cecilia as they turned around.

Spring slashed Cecilia twice with her swords, which drained Cecilia's shield energy, then drop-kicked Cecilia to the ground in a crater.

Spring teleported above Cecilia with her trident raised above her head.

"This makes one!" Spring cried gleefully.

Spring stabbed Cecilia in the stomach, before twisting it a few times before violently ripping it out of Cecilia's chest.

Cecilia's screams filled the Academy channel before abruptly breaking off.

Spring's laughter filled the air around her, replacing the screams that had ended as the nearby Representatives stared at Spring in muted shock.

Cecilia Alcott was dead.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Yes, that did just happen. This is no longer a happy-go-lucky, 'let's solve everyone's family issues through love and friendship while fighting a secret, evil organization' story.


	20. Part 2, Chapter 7: Blue Requiem

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means point-of-view character's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

IS Academy Underground

Houki scoured the halls, looking for the next shelter to infiltrate. Behind her, coming from the two shelters that she'd found so far, was a trail of blood.

Houki continued through the halls, dragging her swords through the walls, eventually stopping when the sword in her right hand encountered some resistance.

_Time to kill some more competition..._

Houki withdrew her swords, covered them in energy from her Fold-Out armor, and began pounding at the wall.

With a resounding crash, it burst open, and she walked in to a room with several Academy ISs.

"You girls sure that she's this direction?"

_More targets. Looks like I'm getting the first round tonight._

Houki went to a dark corner of the room and waited.

Three girls came in seconds later, in a defensive formation, checking their surroundings.

Houki smiled in a slightly predatory manner, licking her lips.

_This is gonna be _fun_..._

XXXXXXXX

"Although there were many casualties in the Battle of IS Academy, few had a greater impact on the heroes of Phantom War like the death of Cecilia Alcott. Alcott was the heir of an English noble family, and became a close friend to several core members of the Hunters. Her death was the second recorded killing of an IS pilot while they were piloting, and set the tone of the war for years after."

-Noriko Mayuzami, _The Phantom War: Of Heroes and Traitors_.

XXXXXXXX

**Part 2, Chapter 7: The Battle of IS Academy, Part II:**

**Blue Requiem**

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Ichika snapped himself out of the shock from Cecilia's death first. His response, however, was an inarticulate scream of rage, followed almost instantly by his face assuming a carefully neutral mask, with only cold fury remaining in his eyes.

"Byakushiki."

**Yes, Master?**

"Release the limiters."

**Of course, Master.**

Several jagged lines all began to glow with light blue energy on the sides of Yukihira's metal blade. White, almost translucent, energy started to emanate from the bottom Yukihira's edge to its tip, lengthening the weapon by two inches and widening it slightly. The edge seemed to waver in the air, despite its solidity, because of the sheer heat it was emanating. Ichika was incredibly glad that his IS helped keep him cool, because he knew that with this heat, being near the blade might have been uncomfortable.

Fubuki seemed to fold out from itself, lengthening and straightening. Several pulsing, yellow lines seemed to light up across the gun's barrel, and when Ichika fired it at a random golem, it pierced straight through the golem's kinetic shield and destroyed the golem's chest, causing it to fall to the ground. A faint red glow was at the tip of Fubuki, from where it had fired.

Ichika flew straight for the golems after commanding his Hyouchuu to go to various angles and force the golems to either block or dodge at all times. He shot one in the center of the chest with Fubuki, separated the right arm, shoulder and head of another golem from the rest of its body, then fired at a third golem, causing it explode and damage some of the nearby golems.

Ichika spun to the side, away from a golem who had just tried to stab him. While he was spinning, he pointed Fubuki at the golem that had tried to stab him and shot it before stabbing another in the neck with Yukihira.

Ichika ordered his Hyouchuu to use whips to move his enemies around or drag them to him so that he could break them faster. He wasn't able to do the calculations himself, however, and so sometimes the golems would be sent to him too quickly or slowly. His Hyouchuu were adjusting themselves to use the right amounts of force, but it was slow-going.

Ichika didn't even try to count the number of golems that he was destroying, he needed to finish quickly and get to the others. They needed his help. He didn't dare try and fly away from the golems until they were all gone- they could attack him from behind.

He made a long, sweeping downward slash, taking out another golem, and mentally groaned as three more showed up.

_Shit, this is never going to end..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

Charlotte ducked to the side, firing her SMGs as Rin came barreling to Spring's location, hitting Spring with hard and heavy strikes with both of her scimitars. The heavy clangs and rings of the connecting weapons were the only signs that the weapons had even hit, because Spring wasn't even flinching under the weight of the blows.

Spring appeared behind Rin, but Charlotte was shooting at Spring immediately she could no longer see Spring, and so Spring was forced to dodge instead of attack.

Rin spun to face Spring and flew away from her, both of her wings glowing as she flew away. After gaining some distance, she fired her Impact Cannons. Spring rolled back under both.

Rin flew to Spring and attacked with both of her scimitars, continuing to push against Spring while still attacking. Charlotte pulled out a rocket launcher, and began going through a slower, but more accurate, targeting process.

Spring teleported behind Rin and found herself being hit by Charlotte's rocket instead. Rin's forceful pushing against an area that was now just air caused her to fall forward in a roll.

Spring teleported again, above Rin, and was able to hit Rin with one of her swords before teleporting away from Charlotte's next rocket blast.

_Shit! She's too fast for the two of us, and Cecilia-san is..._

_No, don't think about it. Not right now. You have too much to do. She'll kill you if let yourself get distracted._

_Think, Charlotte! What would Ichika do?_

XXXXXXXX

_**Madoka**_

Orimura Household

Madoka landed in an empty park near her siblings' house. Slowly, she walked around the neighborhood. The neighborhood was friendly, the houses were all of earthy tones, two stories, with a fairly large amount of glass on the lower floors.

She didn't recognize anybody in the area, but she still liked looking. The people seemed happy and friendly, a few of them asked her how her day was as she passed by them.

_Did Ichika-niichan know any of these people?_

_What did they think of him?_

_Did they love him?_

_Hate him?_

_What about Chifuyu-neesama?_

_What kind of people live here?_

_I don't even know my Niichan any more, do I?_

_It doesn't matter, though._

_With Houki-chan's help, we'll be able to take him back to the base._

_Nothing else matters._

Madoka found herself standing in front of the right house.

She withdrew a set of lock picks, and taking a quick look to make sure that nobody was watching, she picked the lock and went into the kitchen.

She placed three letters on the table, along with her necklace in the center.

As she turned her back on her siblings' lives, she let a single tear streak down her cheek.

XXXXXXXX

_**Chifuyu**_

Chifuyu looked out the window to see her brother fighting against a large number of Golems, slowly coming closer to victory.

A bit further back, she could see Charlotte and Rin engaging a woman wielding a pair of swords coated in some kind of energy, and Cecilia, in her IS, dead.

Chifuyu's breath hitched.

_No... No..._

_Not one of my students..._

_Why?_

_Why, Mother?_

_Why, Father?_

_Why, Madoka?_

_Why, Houki?_

_Why is this necessary?_

_Why can't you leave this alone?_

_What did the world do to you, to justify such a thing?_

_Why Alcott?_

_No, I need to keep going._

_We can't afford to stop right now._

Chifuyu jumped slightly as one of the Golems crashed the room next to her.

The emergency transport elevator finally arrived, the soft pinging of the bell and the creaking of the doors the only sign of its presence. Chifuyu slung Yamada over her shoulder and set her down, resting against the emergency staff lift.

Chifuyu leaned up against the closed lift doors, fighting to stay conscious until she could at least get to the shelters.

When the door reached the bottom, she quickly slapped the lock button, forcing the lift to stay in place, and then passed out from shock, falling forward. The last thing she saw before falling into unconsciousness was a mass of red upon the walls and floors.

XXXXXXXX

_**Laura**_

Jessica materialized a pair of spiked boxing gloves on her hands, and with an inarticulate scream of rage, charged straight at Squall.

Squall elegantly bent under Jessica's fist before bringing her leg up into Jessica's gut, winding her, before hitting the side of Jessica's head with a painful roundhouse kick that caused Jessica to spin a little as she crashed headfirst into the ground. Squall began to fire a salvo of white, crackling orbs of energy at Jessica, only to have her target abruptly pulled like a ragdoll away from her former location.

"Vasquez, what the hell are you thinking?" Laura yelled as her whips retracted as quickly as the could go, the coils taught as they retreated to their deployment areas, bringing Jessica to a safer position.

Kanzashi was shooting at Squall with an assault rifle, but a crackling energy shield appeared between the pair, and the bullets all stopped before crumbling to nothingness upon impact with the barrier.

Smirking, Squall materialized a crackling winged spear of energy in her right hand and threw it at Jessica. It ripped through the air, and Jessica barely rolled to the side to dodge it. Jessica noticed that it was extremely hot as she rolled to the side to evade it. As soon as the spear impacted with the building behind Jessica, however, it detonated, and a massive shockwave shook the air and the building that it had impacted with crumbled near-instantly.

The force of the shockwaves hurt Jessica a bit, as the whiplash she experience when the whips dragging back to her allies were dragging her through the shockwave.

Laura rounded on Jessica.

"She is an unidentified foe, with unknown weaponry and a high skill level. In every exercise that I've _ever_ done with my team, you have just made the single stupidest decision possible. Learn from your mistakes, because this is the real world, girl, and here, our enemies are perfectly willing to _kill_ us. So, are you going to charge in like an idiot, or are you going to _win_?" Laura yelled.

"What can her IS do?" Kanzashi asked.

"I don't remember the Silver Gospel having a spear like that. I doubt that it had that energy shield, either. I think it was designed for taking on many opponents at once, though. It was outfitted with very powerful, state-of-the-art weaponry, and I think that she has 360 degrees of vision with that helmet."

Laura grunted. She reached over to her left eye and removed her eyepatch, letting it fall to the ground. She blinked slightly as her golden left eye adjusted to the light.

Squall fired a wide wave of energy balls, flowing side-to-side, while flying away from her opponents.

Two of Laura's whips wrapped around Jessica, the other two wrapped around Kanzashi, and they both went flying above Laura. Laura put her hand out, palm facing towards the lasers, and used AIC to stop all of the many shots heading her way. They all detonated harmless before the barrier, powerless before the defense of momentum cancellation.

Jessica took out her hunting rifle and tried to attack Squall, but Squall was easily weaving between Jessica and Kanzashi's attacks, and so Jessica flew down behind Laura. Kanzashi was firing surprisingly accurately and about half of her attacks were coming near enough that Squall would activate her energy shield.

When Squall took out a silver, metal, winged spear, with several white lines crisscrossing the grip, and blocked the gunshots instead, Laura wrapped her other two whips around Jessica, positioned Jessica above herself, then did an extremely fast forward-roll, throwing Jessica at Squall. Jessica fired her hunting rifle at Squall as she came near, but switched it out for the pair of spiked boxing gloves when she got close enough to Squall.

Using the force from her flight, Jessica tried to hit Squall with a left hook.

Squall dodged to the right, but was left open to a right jab in her stomach. Using her spear, Squall stabbed at Jessica.

Jessica brought the back of her left hand up, deflecting the spear with the back of her glove, then put her weight on the spear, flying at Squall as fast as she could manage, before hitting Squall in the stomach with her right fist.

Squall went flying back, but Jessica flew right after her, delivering an axe-kick to Squall's neck as Squall lay on the ground, before raising her fist to punch Squall again.

An energy shield materialized in front of Jessica, and her eyes widened slightly before she flew back from Squall, just in time to dodge several balls of energy that shot straight at the space that she had previously occupied.

Squall stabbed at Jessica's retreating form, but overextended slightly and missed. She compensated by firing a single, massively concentrated energy ball at Jessica.

A pair of whips yanked Jessica away, and a shot from Laura's railgun disrupted the energy ball, detonating it prematurely. Laura and Jessica both shielded their eyes from due to the debris that the shockwave from the resulting explosion had kicked up. Squall shielded herself from the explosion, but failed to block several shots from Kanzashi's assault rifle. Just before the smoke from the explosion covered Squall's vicinity, Laura saw a couple of the bullets hit.

Laura activated the infrared setting on her left eye. Blinking a couple of times, she smirked, activated both of her beam sabers, and flew to where Squall was.

"Cover me!" Laura called to her team's channel before entering the smoke.

Laura stabbed at Squall, but Squall managed to dodge her attack. Laura felt a spear stabbing her right hip, so she turned and slashed in that direction.

She hit nothing more than air and took a pair of energy balls in her back.

Laura turned and tried to fly with her back to the exit, but she hit a solid barrier before she could get out of the smoke. She placed one of her hands on the barrier, then extended the energy sword from the palm of her hand.

The barrier was tougher than she expected, and her sword was caught in it. Laura saw the smoke wrapping around something in front of her, like something was traveling extremely quickly, and brought her right arm up to cover her face.

The metal spear went through her arm and just barely stopped at the tip of her nose.

Laura started flying to the right, and barely had time to register the pain in her right arm before her left side was hit by a massive ball of energy.

_der Scheißkerl!_

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

Ichika dodged under the fist of a golem before stabbing it in the chest. While he was stabbing it, he shot a different golem that was next to him.

He flew under another golem, which his Hyouchuu impaled, and bisected a different golem. He shot another one, and then stopped flying.

Panting, Ichika scanned the area.

Ruined torsos and limbs littered the ground beneath him. Several were in areas that Ichika knew were previously buildings, but were now empty. There was a golem's upper torso sticking out of the bath in the bathhouse, and burn marks littered the surrounding tile.

_I'm pretty sure that I broke the bathhouse. And the dorms._

None of the golems that covered the ground were in any way whole. Ichika dematerialized his Hyouchuu and dematerialized Fubuki. He deployed Hyouzan and flew higher up, to see what was going on at the battlefield and locate the others.

_Hmm... Mädchen's team is dealing with one foe. She looks pretty tough, but they're holding up pretty well._

_Char's team, on the other hand..._

_Okay, I'm helping them._

Ichika dove to the ground nearby to where Spring was battling Charlotte and Rin. Halfway there, he had to roll to the right and back from a rapier that was positioned for him to collide with.

The woman before him had short, blueish-white hair and exceedingly pale skin. Her piercing blue eyes seemed to radiate barely concealed disdain for everyone around her. She had aristocratic cheekbones seemed almost razor-sharp, her small nose was raised slightly in the air, and her pale purple lips were twisted into a self-righteous scowl.

Her IS's arms were light blue, long and exceedingly human-looking. They had light purple lines spiraling up to her shoulders, where they spiked out slightly, like a long pair of gloves. The legs on her IS had were light purple, with light blue lines crisscrossing up to her thigh, where the legs attachments smoothly ended. The feet on the IS were shaped like a pair of slippers or dancing shoes. On her waist was a white obi, which had a long, white scabbard, with green, ivy-like coils going around it, attached to the left side.

Floating behind her were four light blue, translucent half-snowflakes that were constantly shifting in size and shape, radiating a rainbow of incandescent light from their reflection in the sun. Two went diagonally outward from her shoulders and the other two went diagonally outward from her hips.

In her right hand was a rapier with a pair of pale blue diagonal lines and a straight, purple line going down the sides of the white blade. The hilt had a standard cross-guard and a thick, dark green, sweeping, ivy-like spiral that wrapped itself near the base of the blade and moved down to cover the front of her hand.

In her left hand was a light blue hand cannon, shaped like a cone with the trigger and handle at the back of the cone. The cone started off thick and extended until its circumference at the largest point was about two-and-a-half times its circumference at its smallest.

**Unidentified IS and pilot detected.**

"I have a question for you, Ichika Orimura." She stated calmly.

"I don't have time for this. Move!" Ichika yelled, charging at her.

**Begin scan?**

The woman fired with her tube, and a solid, crystiline icicle shimmering in the sunlight flew at Ichika. Ichika flew back and put up Hyouzan. He blocked the attack, but several sharp fragments were stuck in his shield, melting quickly.

"Ichika Orimura, I am Winter of Phantom Task. You will not pass without defeating me. Now, I have a question for you."

**Y/N**

"Fine!" Ichika spat,

"What the hell is your question?"

Winter smirked slightly.

"What were you thinking when you removed the limiter on your IS?"

Ichika blinked, and assumed a defensive position.

"Why are you asking?"

Winter started firing with her gun. Ichika dodged and blocked the attacks.

"You don't seem like a killer. Or a soldier. I'm really quite curious about whether or not you're actually going to be capable of killing another human. It's one thing to think about it, to plan it, to have the ability to do it, but it's quite another thing to actually _do_ it. So, are _you_ capable of killing another human, Ichika Orimura?"

Ichika took a deep breath.

_Begin scan._

**Scanning...**

"Once upon a time, back when I was small, naive, and didn't understand how the world worked, I might have had a different answer for you. But, the very first thing I was taught by my sister when I was first learning how to use a sword was that the weapon I was holding was capable of killing my opponent."

Ichika discarded Hyouzan and took Yukihira in both hands. At the same time, Winter discarded her gun and materialized a light blue main gauche with a crossguard, which she held in her left hand.

Ichika slashed at Winter with Yukihira. Winter deflected with her main gauche, but Ichika slashed to the side immediately after, and Winter was forced to roll away from him.

"Even before I had removed the limiters on my IS, I was always making sure that my cuts were more shallow against human opponents. In a way, those golems were excellent for me- they got me reaccustomed to making attacks that could actually kill my opponents, instead of just making light cuts.

Ichika materialized a dozen of his Hyouchuu in laser mode and had them firing at Winter. Winter dodged them easily, but when Ichika materialized a thirteenth and had it wrap around her right ankle, it gave just enough resistance to cause her to be hit by a wave of lasers before she could compensate. Ichika dematerialized all of his Hyouchuu.

"That doesn't answer my question. Are you capable of killing another human, Ichika Orimura?" Winter sounded like she was getting impatient.

"When I removed the limiter on Byakushiki, I decided that I would walk the path of blood. I would kill and kill until nobody who would allow something like this to ever happen was left alive, if that was what it would take to stop something like this from ever happening again."

Winter smirked.

"You don't seem like a 'hero of justice' type to me."

Ichika laughed bitterly.

"Justice is relative. Heroism is relative. Good is relative. Evil is relative. All that exists in this world are shades of gray. Most shades darker than the others. I've known that for so long now. Everyone has an agenda- everyone has something that they want for you. The trick is knowing what you can get from them, and what they want to get from you."

"So, what about that girlfriend of yours?"

"That is none of your business, Winter. Now, I chose the path of blood- I chose to kill members of your organization- because I find your actions unforgivable. Completely and utterly despicable. Don't try to justify them, because it'll just sound like you're cheapening their deaths. And, if by killing all of you, then I feel better, or if our world finally gets its head out of its ass and starts using IS technology for more than just sports and war because I killed all of you, or even if it just means that by killing all of you, then our world can have just more good night's sleep- well, then, isn't it my _responsibility_ to ensure that you people can't harm anyone else?"

"Why do you care about responsibility?" Winter shot back, scathingly, her eyes barely concealing deep emotion.

"I care about responsibility because I am the only man who can pilot an IS. I care about responsibility because my sister is an important figure in your organization. I care about responsibility because it's my parents who have led you people to this path. I have my responsibilities and obligations, and I refuse to allow them to come undone."

"We come from powerful countries, with access to resources and clean water that the less well-off countries could only dream of! It's our responsibility to spread the gifts of technology as wide as we can manage! If, by bringing all of the world under one government, we could bring all of the world to the modern era, shouldn't it be our responsibility to do so?" Winter cried, desperation and hysteria evident in her voice.

Ichika deployed all of his Hyouchuu in sword mode. They began stabbing at Winter in an elaborate pattern, causing Winter to almost dance around them, parrying with her rapier and main gauche all the while.

"You might be correct. You might not be. It's not my right, to judge for the world. All I can tell you is that _I _think you're wrong, and that nothing can justify assaulting and destroying a school full of children.

Winter sighed lightly.

"Fine, then."

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

Charlotte glanced up to where Ichika was engaging Winter before going back to watching Rin and Spring exchange resounding blows, each attack sending a small shockwave to the surrounding air.

Rin dodged under a wide swing and sidestepped a powerful downward slash. Charlotte fired at Spring twice with her sniper rifle. Both shots connected, causing Spring to buck slightly under the force of both impacts.

Spring swung at Rin, who dodged, but Spring immediately teleported behind Rin. While Charlotte's bullets were traveling to Spring, she slashed Rin's back twice, which was enough to drain Rin's shield energy.

_What would Ichika do?_

Spring glared at Charlotte.

_Something creative._

_Something slightly insane._

Spring teleported a few meters in front of Charlotte.

_Something absolutely nobody would expect._

_Something that would make me love him just that much more._

Charlotte smirked to herself slightly.

_I have just the weapons._

Spring swung at Charlotte with both of her weapons, Charlotte blocked with her sniper rifle, which was cut in half. Charlotte tossed both halves to the side before materializing a pair of long pistols.

Both long pistols had the top and bottom ends of the nozzle lengthened, thickened and hardened. The main bodies were a dark, burnt orange, but the nozzles were black with a series of thin ivory lines dancing in a spiderwebbed pattern. These were pistols she had specifically trained with for use in melee combat.

When Spring swung down with both of her swords, Charlotte brought her pistols up and parried both of the blows. As Spring's eyes widened, Charlotte pushed Spring's swords apart and kicked Spring's chin with her right foot.

Using her upward momentum, Charlotte did a backflip, kicking Spring twice more while she did so before using Spring's face as a springboard to launch herself backwards.

While flying back, Charlotte fired at Spring several times, the gunshots banging into the air full of distant explosions and metallic clangs, the evidence of other battles going on around them.

Spring chased after Charlotte, who fired at Spring a couple of times while trying to maintain the life-preserving gap between the two opponents. Unfortunately, Spring was faster, and closed the distance while slashing downwards with her right sword. Charlotte caught the sword between the tips of her pistols. She fired, causing Spring's sword to crack. Charlotte twisted and shoved.

Spring's sword shattered as Spring stared at the broken, fragmented blade now on her hilt, then Charlotte, then the hilt again in disbelief.

_Right. What have I learned?_

_A: She has a teleportation range limit. This seems to be about ten meters._

_B: Even with the energy coating, her swords are still fragile. They can cut through a lot, and are very damaging, but the energy layer is purely for attacks- they have the same weaknesses as a more normal IS-scale katana. They might even be more fragile, and sacrificed weight of ease-of-movement and use the energy to reinforce for attacks._

_God, I'm glad that Ichika made me learn CQC during our training. But- I can win, with this. She's lost a weapon._

_Wait, don't assume anything, Charlotte. You have no idea what she has on her IS. She could have spare swords or something similar. There is still the trident. Plus, you still haven't ruled that this is just an advanced application of Fold-Out Armor._

Spring stared at the hilt in her hand before raging at Charlotte.

"You bitch! That was my sword! I only had two! Aaahh, now Squall-sama is going to get pissed at me, and M-sama is going to glare at me, and I'm going to be punished and kept out of the execution blocks and torture chambers for a few weeks! What the hell are you going to do, to compensate for the loss of my weekly symphony of blood and screams, huh?"

_Good. This just got easier. Ichika's been helping you deal with one-hit-kill sword wielders for a while now._

Charlotte blocked the forceful, wild swing with the sides of both of her pistols. She kicked Spring's leg before pushing back and firing at Spring's torso.

Charlotte kept an eye behind herself, and when she felt a rush of wind traveling behind her, she moved her right pistol back, deflected Spring's slash, then stuck her left pistol under her arm and shot Spring.

Turning quickly, Charlotte shot Spring twice more before blocking another hit from Spring's sword with both of her pistols, which by this point and several dents marring their surfaces.

Charlotte shoved Spring back with her foot before shooting her twice more.

Spring glared at Charlotte venomously before dematerializing her sword and materializing a trident. The tips of the Trident coated themselves in green energy and Spring thrust at Charlotte.

Charlotte dodged to the side and rammed her pistol into the area just below the trident's tips, forcing it go far to her side and miss her completely. She shot Spring's stomach twice, before dematerializing one pistol and reloading a new clip into her right pistol.

She flew away from Spring, dodging several violent thrusts from an opponent simmering in rage as she did the same for her other pistol. Just as Charlotte finished reloading, Spring made a thrust to Charlotte that she dodged to the right easily- only to have the back, blunt end of Spring's trident ram into her stomach. Slightly winded, Charlotte didn't have time to properly move out of the way of Spring's trident. So, Charlotte made the only choice that she had.

With a slight whining noise, and flash of orange, Charlotte teleported behind Spring and whacked her over the head with both of her pistols before firing each at point-blank range.

_That still uses too much shield energy..._

"What? Cheater!" Spring shouted.

"It's not cheating, it's fighting smartly. You didn't know I could do that. I've never used it any official match. I knew that I could do that as a last resort."

_Fortunately, a few feet doesn't take much of my shield energy._

Spring thrust at Charlotte, the tips of her trident looking normal. Charlotte blocked, and Spring's tail glowed shortly before she appeared behind Charlotte. Charlotte, eyes widening, narrowly dodged to the side of the now glowing trident.

_Wait..._

Charlotte flew away from Spring, firing at her in locations designed to force her to dodge and slow down rather than actually hit. Spring was slowed enough for Charlotte to gain distance.

Once Charlotte was far enough away, the tips of Spring's trident stopped glowing, and the tip of the IS's tail glowed.

An instant later, Spring was directly in front of Charlotte and Charlotte moved her pistol to defend herself.

While Spring was thrusting, the trident's tips started glowing, and after Charlotte had blocked, Spring's tail was covered in a layer of energy that glowed green in the setting sunlight.

_Fold-Out Armor..._

_A short speed boost, rather than true teleportation? That makes more sense. She could have a single-use time limit that would force her to either pause or switch modes between boosts._

XXXXXXXX

_**Laura**_

Laura had no idea how long she had been unconscious for, but when she awakened, she was in a familiar landscape.

She was laying down in the Schwarzer Hase main hangar. Her squad's banner was regally perched both on the roof and above their main monitors. Every high-tech, shining hangar, save one, was empty. The one that had been filled was opposite of her, and the IS was covered by a sheet.

_**What is your deepest desire, Laura Bodewig?**_

Laura frantically peered around, trying to locate the source of the voice.

_**What is your deepest desire, Laura Bodewig?**_

"I desire to win!"

_**Is victory truly what you want, Laura Bodewig?**_

"No! I..."

Laura thought. Several images flashed before her. Her eyes widened, as she thought about what she wanted...

_I..._

Going to the mall, taking pictures with everyone...

_I..._

Helping the others train, and being trained by the others herself...

_I..._

Charlotte's smile, the Commander's smile, and what she'd be willing to do to preserve them...

_I..._

Chifuyu, smiling at her and ruffling her hair, talking about how proud she was, while the members of her squad and her friends smiled and laughed in the background...

_I..._

"I desire to protect!"

The voice sounded almost... pleased.

_**Very well, then, Laura Bodewig.**_

_**I deem you worthy.**_

_**Use your power wisely.**_

_**Go protect everyone.**_

Laura walked over to the covered IS, and placed her hand upon its chest, where she could see a crimson glow surfacing underneath the covering, which slowly expanding to envelope her vision...

XXXXXXXX

_**Jessica**_

Just after Laura's fall...

Jessica screamed an inarticulate sound of rage as she blindly charged at Squall, who had withdrawn an energy spear. Squall easily parried Jessica's first punch with the side of her arm, and stabbed right into Jessica's stomach in time with the second punch, which Squall ducked under. Squall created an energy sword and stabbed Jessica's arm while whipping the spear back and hitting Jessica with the blunt back.

Jessica rolled out of the way and a ball of energy barely clipped her foot. The detonation further reduced her shield energy and increased the distance between herself and Squall. Jessica took out a her rifle and fired at Squall, but she missed widely, and Kanzashi provided supporting fire.

A wide stream of glowing energy balls flew at Jessica and Kanzashi. Jessica flew under the projectiles without much effort, but Kanzashi's IS wasn't as fast, and she took a fair few hits. Jessica tried to rush over to cover for Kanzashi, but a massive energy ball forced her to dodge away. Squall was charging with a spear in one hand and a sword in the other at Kanzashi.

Jessica flew behind Squall, but she crashed into an energy barrier before she could do anything. She tried to fly around it, but it seemed to track her and keep her away from the Squall and Kanzashi.

Kanzashi took a deep breath and slowed her breathing, before taking on a determined look and dematerializing her assault rifle while putting herself into a stance. Her left hand looked ready to catch something, close to her body, and her right was extended, palm out and fingers curled. She expelled part of the armor plating on her right arm, and a light green spike popped out. She opened up the general chat channel.

"Orimura-san." She began.

There was panting on the other side.

"Yes, Kanzashi-san?" Ichika asked, his voice showing obvious signs of strain and exhaustion.

"Please, tell my sister. Tell my sister that life's not a game, but it's okay to be happy. Tell her that I love her, no matter what I've ever said to her before. And please, don't let her lose herself to her goal, or her goal to herself." Kanzashi pleaded. It was obvious to both sides what Kanzashi though her survival rate was going to be.

"No! Don't, Kanzashi-san!"

Kanzashi ducked under the initial stab from Squall's spear, and slammed the spike on her right wrist into Squall's stomach. Squall flipped her sword around and stabbed it into Kanzashi's arm, draining her shield energy. At the same time, she materialized an energy sword in place of the evaded spear, before stabbing this sword into Kanzashi's back, through her spinal cord and coming out just below the valley between her breasts.

Squall pulled her sword out surprisingly carefully before kicking Kanzashi down to the ground, her shield energy drained.

"You fought well." Squall commented solemnly.

"However, even if you live, your life as a warrior is now over."

"YOU BITCH!"

Squall turned to see Laura in a very different IS, her eyes wide, brows furrowed, and teeth grinding in an expression of pure rage. Tears came out of her right eye like normal, but tears of blood were pouring out of Laura's augmented eye.

"Second Shift! Schwarzer Regen Schutzengel!"

XXXXXXXX

AN: Okay, to anyone complaining about the Silver Gospel being obscenely broken, let's look at canon vs. _Ichika's Trust_, shall we?

**Canon:**

-Six opponents

-AI

-Wipes out all six, once, and still has enough power left to put a hell of a fight up for the second time. Probably would have won, if it weren't for Ichika's Big Damn Heroes moment.

**Ichika's Trust:**

-Three opponents

-Piloted by Squall, who is a skilled pilot.

-Has had Madoka fiddling with it for a few months, so it has several new toys, including altered Fold-Out Armor.

So, yes, Squall is perfectly capable of slaughtering three opponents at once. Especially when is a melee specialist, one is limited to an average IS, and the last is mostly a mid-ranged tank, and not nearly fast enough to dodge properly.

And yes, the Raphael Revive Mk. II _can_ teleport. It was even written into its features, and was probably one of the major selling points. It's just that, as Charlotte said, she's never needed to use it before now- because against Madoka's horde of golems (which would've been the only real time she'd have needed to do it), teleporting neither provided a significant tactical advantage nor would it have enabled her to dodge a massive attack that could take out all of her shield energy. In other words, no calling bullshit, because the IS could do this all along.

I actually didn't have my editor look at this one, which is probably why this AN is more rant-like than usual. Did anyone notice any major decreases in quality?


	21. Part 2, Chapter 8: Spring's Fall

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means point-of-view character's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

_**Tatenashi**_

Sunset

About twenty minutes south of Tabane's meeting hall, over the ocean

Tatenashi ducked under a sword before stabbing her opponent in the stomach with her lance, firing it at the same time as her impact.

Her target, Snowstorm, was sent flying back in the air.

As another opponent flew behind Tatenashi, a massive, spiraling gout of water erupted from the ocean below her.

_There should be three left, counting these two. They appeared from almost nowhere, but I was able to lure them to the ocean- my environment._

A flurry of light blue lasers came from Snowstorm's direction and a spinning whirlpool appeared in front of Tatenashi, blocking the attack.

Hail was recovered from the gout of water that she had been hit by and fired a missile at Tatenashi, who had flew out under the whirlpool and was now flying at Sprout, who was gathering green energy to a cannon mounted on her chest.

One of Tatenashi's water drones erupted from the ocean, surrounded by water, and drilled into Sprout's back as Tatenashi fired the machine guns in the tip of her spear into her opponent's chest. Tatenashi got close enough to the water and pointed her spear directly downwards, where water slowly gathered around the tip. As the drone continued to drill into Sprout's back, a second drill of water lanced into her chest, draining her shield energy.

From the beach off to the side, Tabane witnessed another member of Phantom Task's shields going down, and used some of the weapons in her personal storage space to drag Sprout over and keep with Sapling, who was restrained and guarded by Cayce.

_And then there were two..._

XXXXXXXX

**Part 2, Chapter 8: The Battle of IS Academy, Part III:**

**Spring's Fall**

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

_This isn't going well..._

_I'm tiring. Winter is well-rested. I've lost contact with half of the others, and at least one is dead. Two extra are out of commission. I'm low on shield energy._

_**Scan Complete**_

_The cone is temperature manipulation. The snowflakes on her back magnify the combat ability of her weapons. The rapier can freeze or cool the surrounding air. Fold-Out-Armor, high speed._

Ichika materialized Fubuki and fired at Winter twice before charging her. Winter dodged both attacks, and all four of the half-snowflakes on her back vanished. The rapier in her hand lengthened by about a foot and thickened. The bottom of its handle lengthened and both began to exude steam.

Ichika slashed at Winter, but she easily blocked. He fired at her twice, she sidestepped both attacks. Ichika and Winter began exchanging blows with their swords and Ichika switched Fubuki out for Hyouzan, which was slowly taking more damage.

Ichika stabbed Winter, trying to get under her guard, and Winter used this distraction to stab his shoulder. Ichika ignored the reduction of his shield energy and had all of his Hyouchuu in sword-mode stab Winter's back.

Winter failed to dodge the majority of them, and they stuck to her back.

The Hyouchuu changed themselves to thrusters and started to take control of her flight path, moving her up in the sky and away from the main battlefield, closer to Charlotte and Spring.

Ichika activated Yukihira as he flew after Winter, who accelerated with the Hyouchuu and activated Ignition Boost to shake them off. Ichika ordered both of them to switch over to laser mode, and had each of them shoot Winter whilst launching themselves away from her.

Ichika activated Yukihira while Winter spun, dematerialized her main gauche and took out her icicle cannon. Winter fired at Ichika twice, and he cut through the icicles both times. Winter activated the Fold-Out-Armor on her rapier, and when Ichika dove after her, she brought her left arm up to block.

Winter used the momentum from Yukihira and its attachment in her arm to move it away from any vital points on her body, while stabbing upwards with her rapier.

Ichika's pained scream, in time with Winter's own, told her that she had hit something- when she looked, she had driven her rapier through his far upper left pelvis.

However, Ichika managed to complete his slash and cut off Winter's left arm just above the wrist.

Winter screamed in pain and rage before disengaging and flying away from Ichika and the battlefields.

"We _will_ settle this, Ichika Orimura!"

Ichika groaned, and looked down for a place to land as he felt the adrenaline leave his system and the pain, as well as exhaustion, take over. He was almost out of energy, as well. He dematerialized all of his weapons and landed in some trees by where Charlotte was fighting. When he was couple feet above, his IS ran out of power dematerialized itself. He rolled with the landing, only to feel searing pain in his right side from his injury.

Ichika undid his tie and wrapped it as tightly as he could around his injury. He then wrapped and tightened his belt around that, and then put his suit coat under his knee to give it some support.

He put himself into position to watch the rest of Charlotte's fight, knowing that he'll just be a distraction if he stayed nearby.

"This is Orimura. I'm down. Out of energy. Near Dunois. Call emergency crew..."

XXXXXXXX

_**Houki**_

Houki was cleaning the blood off of her swords when she heard,

"This is Winter. I need support, I'm pulling out of combat."

"This is Squall. Summer, pull out and aid Winter with her retreat and get her back to base. Everyone not currently locked in combat, pull back with them. Those who are in combat, finish and then retreat."

Houki sighed forlornly to herself before blasting her way through the doors and walking up to the steps, flying away from her bloodbath to meet up with Winter. She took one last look at the corpses of the three IS pilots who came after her, before flying away.

_Ichika... One day... You _will_ be mine._

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

Charlotte ducked under a stab from Spring's trident, which was followed by a downward slash that she blocked with her pistols in an x-guard, which she used to push herself away from Spring. She flew below Spring, switching to a pair of SMGs to attack while flying away.

Spring flew at Charlotte with her trident, and slashed to the side, bisecting both of Charlotte's SMGs. Charlotte stomped into Spring's stomach, her IS-augmented strength creating a small shockwave as she pushed Spring into the ground.

Charlotte switched to a revolver in her hand and fired it at Spring, to keep Spring's downward momentum going.

Spring's impact with the ground caused a couple of cracks to be created in the concrete from sheer force of impact.

Charlotte flew down, foot first, and landed her right foot into Spring's stomach, a six-foot diameter crater with cracks spiderwebbing the ground forming at the point of her impact. Spring didn't move from her location. Charlotte collapsed on the ground, staring at Spring, as if daring her to move again.

The only indication that Charlotte had towards Spring still being alive was the rhythmic movement of Spring's chest.

"Thank _God_. I was starting to think you just wouldn't permanently go down, bitch."

Spring didn't respond.

"You are out of energy, right?"

XXXXXXXX

_**Laura**_

Laura had a bored expression on her face, arms crossed over her chest and silver hair flowing in cool sunset breeze, as she stared down with Squall, dozens of crackling balls of energy stopped mid-air, as soon as they got within two meters of Laura's location.

Laura's IS had changed drastically from its prior appearance.

Her entire body, save her face, was now covered by armor. Her legs were covered by thick, black plates, though her leg armor looked more like chain mail at the knees. Crimson lines accented the rough edges all across her legs, and her feet seemed to have a warm crimson sphere on their soles. There were four vents going up the outer side of each of her legs that seemed slightly out of place.

Her torso was covered in lighter, more form-fitting armor, but intricate spirals of crimson originating from another crimson sphere in the center of her chest added some flavor.

Laura's arms were covered in plates of medium thickness, not nearly as heavy as what covered her legs, but not as light as her torsos's armor, either. Her wrists seemed to almost have handcuffs clasped around them, but there was no chain attaching them and they slowly tapered down to her elbows. You could see four vents built in to each of her wrists. Drill-like crimson spirals originated around the handcuffs and ran up to her elbow. There was a crimson sphere on the back of each of her hands.

Floating above Laura's shoulders were a pair of blocky, cylindrical black objects. They seemed to have shaped themselves from shadow and almost drew light to themselves. If you listened closely, you could hear a moderately contented humming emanating from them.

Attached to Laura's back was a pod about the size of her torso that didn't seem to weigh her down in the slightest. The black pod had several golden veins glowing and you could almost think that then energy within them was moving.

At her hips were a pair of mirrored spiked extrusions covered in a half-dozen of the glowing spheres each. They sometimes moved randomly, almost of their own accord, and they had several golden streaks lining their sharper edges.

Laura rapidly moved her hands apart, and almost as soon as she did so, the balls of energy that had been closing in on her vanished. Both of the objects above her shoulders began glowing a deep, almost purple, red while the humming increased in volume and intensity.

A pair of massive blasts of purple, sparking energy came flying out of Laura's new railguns an astonishing rate. Squall was only barely able to dodge the brunt of the attack, but was still hit on her leg. The beams left a couple of thin streaks of light in the sky before fully dispersing.

Squall flew to Jessica and began to engage her with a pair of energy swords as Laura flew towards the two of them. Just before she was going to stab Jessica in an opening in her gap she was violently yanked away from her target.

"No! I will protect them! Your fight is with _me_ now, Squall!"

The whips out of Laura's left wrist were retracting at a rapid rate, dragging Squall around like she was nothing more than a ragdoll, and all of her struggling just caused her to collide with their ruined surroundings more.

In Laura's right hand, a spear of purple energy appeared out of seemingly nowhere. She threw it, with force that caused the air to whip around it. Squall barely managed to guide herself away from its impact, but was able to evade neither the explosion nor the subsequent shockwave.

Squall was freed from the whips, however, and was able to bring up an energy shield almost immediately before impact. The energy shield barely held up over the course of the beam. Somehow, one of the two spike-like clusters around Laura's waist had vanished.

The pod on Laura's back opened and several dozen black missiles flew in various directions after it, their crimson glows leaving streaks in the slowly darkening sky.

"Schwarz! Hagel!" Laura yelled as Squall desperately spun out of the way.

Squall was firing as many of her energy balls as she could to destroy those missiles before they hit her and was being fairly successful. She didn't notice Laura until it was almost too late and barely sidestepped a stab from a purple sword in Laura's hand.

However, just after sidestepping, she found herself immobilized, like something was completely stopping movement in that direction. Laura flew back just before the three remaining missiles hit.

Laura heard panting within the smoke of the impact and recalled the Engelsflügel that she had deployed to Squall's location.

"Why do you fight, Silver-haired one?" Squall asked.

"Because there are people I must protect."

The smoke warped around an energy spear that came flying right out of it. Laura easily blocked it with AIC.

"Why protect? What about orders? What about the mission? You're a soldier, aren't you?"

"I am a soldier. I will always be a soldier. I can't imagine a life where I'm not a soldier. I've just decided change what being a soldier means to me."

Laura charged at Squall with an energy sword in hand. Squall blocked with an energy sword of her own.

"Hooh? And, praytell, what is your new definition?"

"If you have orders, obey them!"

Laura snapped the fingers on her left hand and an explosion occurred on Squall's back.

_The whips on my wrists detach at the tips, which are explosive._

"If they're weaker than you, protect them!"

Laura put her hand on Squall's chest and materialized a second energy sword. Squall barely managed to get out of its range.

"And if they threaten those precious to you, those who you wish to protect, your country, or innocents..."

Laura flew back and used AIC to keep Squall away. Both of her hands and the railguns on her shoulders began glowing and gathering energy. The massive pair of spears in her hands were thrown first, followed by firing the railguns.

Squall flew above the spears, which knocked her upwards.

Laura pointed at Squall with her left when when Squall was right in front of the railgun blasts.

_Schwung Absturz!_

Squall suddenly stopped moving and took both railgun blasts head-on.

"And if they threaten those precious to you, those who you wish to protect, your country or innocents, you crush them. That is what it means to be a soldier!"

When the energy beams cleared, Squall wasn't anywhere in sight.

"She's retreated, Vasquez. Let's see to our teammate and begin to call emergency crews. It sounds like the fighting's over."

Laura landed carefully and winced, gritting her teeth, as the adrenaline wore off and she started to feel having a solid piece of metal stuck in the length of her right arm.

_Well, looks like I get an artificial arm to match my eye._

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

Charlotte got up, dusted herself off, and began to search for Ichika.

The impact of a trident in her stomach was rather surprising for her, however.

She barely dodged to the side from an attack that probably would have separated the top of her head from the rest of her body, instead getting a moderately deep cut on her left cheek, just below her eye. While she was dodging, she brought her revolver up to Spring's forehead.

When it was touching Spring's forehead, Charlotte fired, despite the dawning horror on Spring's face.

As Charlotte's upper body was covered in blood that wasn't her own and Spring's lifeless corpse slowly let its remaining lifeblood flow out, Charlotte's eyes widened and her pupils dilated.

Tears began to sting her cheeks as she vomited her lunch. She dematerialized her IS and covered her mouth as she began to hyperventilate.

_Oh god... Oh god... Oh god..._

_She's dead. She's dead._

_I killed her._

_I'm a monster._

_Ichika!_

_Where's Ichika?_

_I need to find him._

_He'll know._

_Oh god..._

Charlotte calmed her breathing down slightly, and wiped her eyes and mouth. She then opened a link to the general comm channel.

"Ichika? Where are you?"

"By the forest, Char. I'm pretty much right behind you."

Charlotte turned, and her face lit up when she saw Ichika. She ran over to him as quickly as she could, but suddenly sullenly stopped running and slowly walked to him.

"Char. Get over here." He said outside of the comm channel.

"But-"

"Char. Get. Over. Here."

"Yes..." She replied sadly as she walked over to him.

She bent down over him and looked down into his eyes.

Ichika brought his hand up and gently traced the area below the cut on her face.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" He asked softly.

"No, but doesn't your injury hurt?" She replied, equally soft.

"It does, but it's not life-threatening as long as don't do too much to it, and you should see the other guy." Ichika softly stroked her cheek.

"What happened to her?"

"Let's just say that Phantom Task is going to be very glad for Tabane-nee's artificial arms in the near future."

Ichika gently leaned forward and touched his forehead to Charlotte's.

"Char, you aren't a monster. You did what you needed to do to protect yourself and others. You avenged Cecilia-san. She probably would have killed you if you hadn't. I won't say I'm proud of you, because you shouldn't be proud of killing, but I want you to know that I still love you, alright?"

"Ichika..." Charlotte choked as she threw herself into his arms.

Her body was wracked with sobs as she latched herself to his chest, where his shirt was developing an ever-larger wet spot.

"Sssh... It'll be okay..." He murmured softly to her as he gently stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

Ichika reached into his pocket, took out his cell phone, and dialed the emergency line.

"Yes, I'm at IS Academy... Oh, you already have some crews on their way? I was the person in command of the operation. I think I have at least two people in need of immediate emergency attention and another person who's died. Police would be good, too. The underground shelters are a mess. I'm pretty sure that the enemy managed to get into them. There a surprising lack of fires, though. Where do you want us to gather the survivors? Right, on it." Ichika flipped his phone shut.

"Char." He gently shook Charlotte's shoulder.

"Y-Yes?"

"Does your IS still have energy?" He asked gently.

"Let me check."

She closed her eyes for a second.

"Yes, it does."

"Char, can you carry me to the area in front of the fallen central spire and tell everyone that's where we need to go?" He asked her.

"Sure, give me a sec." She told him. Charlotte materialized her IS and carefully lifted Ichika up in her arms.

Once Ichika was secured, she flew to their gathering point while saying on the Academy-wide channel,

"This is Dunois. The enemy is nowhere in sight. All survivors, report to the ruins of the central spire. It's where the emergency crew will start to meet us. Team 3 inform all students of this information. Check all of the rooms, even the ones that have already been hit, for survivors."

Charlotte landed at the side of the fallen spire and rested Ichika against it. Laura and Jessica were carefully carrying somebody between themselves.

"Is she alive, Mädchen?" Ichika asked.

"Yes. The emergency crew will need to get here soon, though." Laura replied in a clipped tone.

"So... Second Shift, Mädchen? That makes two of us, doesn't it?" Ichika grinned.

"Yes... Yes, I suppose it does, doesn't it?" Laura replied, a smug smirk visible on her face.

"I suppose you're pretty much a tank now, right?" He asked.

"...What?"

"...Nevermind."

Alessandra's voice suddenly popped up over the the general channel.

"I'm glad that we've been searching the shelters for survivors. The first few should be coming up now, but I've just found Orimura-sensei and Yamada-sensei. They're both alive, but Orimura-sensei has a broken leg and Yamada-sensei has a head injury. They're both unconscious. I'm bringing the two of them up."

"Chifuyu-nee's... Alive?" Ichika asked, hope and disbelief evident in his voice.

Charlotte smiled, relief evident on her face.

_Thank god..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Squall**_

Several hundred miles off the coast of Japan

Night

"Why the hell weren't the weathers helping us at all?" Summer demanded.

"Because for most of them, their orders were to go after Tabane Shinonono. Only Summer's stayed around long enough to command the golems, and they left, too. The fact that they haven't come back yet means that our enemy had us outnumbered and some unexpected abilities. They did, after all, kill Spring and take off one of Winter's arms. We are lucky that Ichika Orimura's IS cauterizes wounds, or else Winter would have bled to death by now. We can't afford to mess up like this again. Engaging those pilots can only end in disaster, though our primary objective was completed."

M flew up next to Squall, silently introspecting.

"Did you complete your objectives?" Squall asked.

"Yes, Squall. Let's go back to base."

_We won't fail next time. We can't._

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

September 7th, 2030, 7:50 P.M.

Tokyo General hospital

Charlotte sat in the cafeteria, absently picking at her food with her left hand while staring down at her right, squeezing her index finger like she was pulling a trigger at semi-regular intervals.

_It only takes one squeeze to kill somebody._

_I remember that, back when I first started training._

_I guess I never believed it until now._

_It just didn't register to me, that I could kill somebody with a gun._

_IS battles are normally in a controlled environment, with minimal chance of injury._

_Why?_

_Is this why we have the Alaska Treaty?_

_Because ISs can kill anybody, from a superior range?_

_Is it because an IS can level a building with little effort, no matter how it was designed?_

_There are craters and destroyed buildings all around the Academy island. _

_Is this what being a pilot means? Destruction? Death?_

_Death..._

_Cecilia..._

_Why did it have to be you? We were friends._

_We could have been more careful about it. We didn't have to do it like this._

_You had too much left to do._

_You never got to continue your family line._

_You never got to keep your family line._

_Why?_

_It's never right. It's never fair, not to anyone._

Charlotte sighed forlornly to herself as she took a single bite of her food. She couldn't taste a thing.

XXXXXXXX

_**Rin**_

Rin was sitting in the chair outside of Kanzashi's hospital room.

_She went right by me. I didn't even see her._

_And then she could have done me in easily a dozen times if it weren't for Dunois-san._

_I'm so useless._

_And now Cecilia is dead._

_I'll never get to apologize._

_I'll never get to convince her that her cooking's terrible._

_I'll never get to have fun with her again._

_It's all my fault._

_I was useless against Spring, and now Dunois-san had to kill her._

_God, she probably feels terrible about that._

_If Ichika hasn't reassured her about it yet, I'll kick his ass._

_...No, he always was pretty perceptive about that._

_This could have gone so differently, had I only been stronger..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Jessica**_

Jessica was walking through the halls to the cafeteria.

_Huh. So the idiot was more competent than I had thought._

_Still, he could have tried harder to keep Charlie out of there._

_And now she's killed._

_Idiotic bastard._

_Still, Bodewig was much more skilled than I had thought._

_She's quite good at fighting, too._

_She'll make a fun sparring partner._

XXXXXXXX

_**Laura**_

Laura was standing at attention outside of Ichika and Chifuyu's hospital room.

_Second Shift, one Season dead, another short an arm with her identity revealed due to the Commander's True Sight._

_Four allies dead, one likely to be paralyzed from the waist down, the Academy levelled, most of the faculty and students dead._

_This was a loss._

_At best, a Pyrrhic victory._

_If I recall, the President is leading the organization that fights these people. _

_I'll have to make sure that the Commander knows to bring me with him when he signs up._

_I have to do my duty, after all, and these people are a threat to everyone._

_I just need to do my duty..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Chifuyu**_

Chifuyu stared at the wall, silent tears streaking down her cheeks.

_They're dead._

_My students._

_Most of them._

_Gone._

_Dead._

_So many of them._

_They had so much that they wanted to do._

_And now they can't do anything again._

_Can't achieve their dreams._

_Just dead._

_Gone._

_Like that Season that Charlotte killed._

_No..._

_Ichika needs to reassure her, if he hasn't already._

_I should probably too, as her teacher and future sister-in-law._

_Heh._

_Yeah, that's how it's gonna go, no doubts about it._

_At the very least, she's a damn sight better than the simpering fangirls that my poor, poor, ever-suffering Otouto is going develop after news of this gets out._

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

September 8th, 2030, 10:30 A.M.

Tokyo City Hospital, Orimura joint room

"Yesterday, in a nigh-unprecedented event, IS Academy, just off the coast of Tokyo, was attacked by terrorists. As we all know, IS Academy is where we train the world's next generation of IS pilots, and is purely a high school. It is protected by a barrier using similar technology to what the ISs use. Though we have yet to receive an official statement from any of the brave students involved in the Academy's defense, we do know that around one hundred ISs of unknown origin were seen breaking in to the Academy. Official numbers for casualties haven't come in yet, but it looks like the Academy itself has been destroyed. Is this why we have the Alaska Treaty? Because _this_ is the kind of damage that can be done with an IS? Stay tuned as we find out more."

Ichika clicked the TV off as he ran his hand through Charlotte's hair. She had stayed in his hospital room most of the night, and only fallen asleep recently.

"Chifuyu-nee, I'm going to need to make a statement soon. I was in charge of the operation, it's my job to tell people about how it went. Will you sign the proper paperwork for me to do so?"

Chifuyu sighed.

"Ichika, you can't wait until you're discharged from the hospital?" She asked exasperatedly.

"No, I can't. I need to do this. We both know it."

"Fiine. Visiting hours start in half an hour, and you'll be swarmed by reporters the instant that happens. We'll let it happen soon enough. Wake up your girlfriend."

Ichika smiled softly to himself as he looked down at Charlotte and gently shook her shoulder.

"Char. You need to wake up." He said.

"Ichiikaa? What time's it?" She responded sleepily, as she blinked the sleep out of her bleary eyes.

"It's half an hour to visiting hours. Unless you want to answer awkward questions to the press, you should probably get up and get some food. Once Chifuyu-nee and I are discharged, the three of us can head back to my house, since you'll need a place to stay, but until then, you need to go get something to eat."

Charlotte nodded, stretched and walked off, Ichika smiling softly in her direction as she left.

"Ichika, I never thought I'd see you that relaxed." Chifuyu observed.

"Is it a bad thing, Chifuyu-nee?"

"No. No, it's not."

_Everything's started now, huh?_

_I'm going to make a difference._

_I can make a difference._

_I'm going to fight._

_I'm going to win._

_Cecilia-san is gone, yes. She's dead._

_It's a little cold of me, but I can't bring myself to mind all that much. She was okay, but we never did much together. Char and Rin-san are probably going to take it the hardest out of all of us, though._

_I have no idea how Kanzashi's feeling. With those injuries, she could be anywhere from dead to paralyzed._

_Team 4 is all dead, from what I've heard. It makes me feel cold that I don't care about them dying as people, but more as the fact that, as commander, their deaths are going to go on my record._

_I cut a woman's arm off, and all I can think of is that I'm proud of it, and slightly disappointed that I didn't get all of her._

_It disgusts me._

_I disgust me._

_Don't worry, Char, it's not you that's the monster._

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

A half hour of introspection later

The first reporter in was the one who got the official statement.

He just so happened to be with the nation's largest news network.

Ichika didn't care.

He just wanted to get it off his chest.

"Orimura-san, could you please give us some sort of statement about what occurred yesterday at the Academy?"

Ichika summarized the battle from what he knew had occurred and the few details he had obtained from the others. He tried to keep things portrayed in a light so that any blame on the group's actions would be placed on either himself or Phantom Task, as he had taken the role of commanding officer.

Honestly, the media seemed quite impressed that a group of teenagers, even if they had been in training to a while, were able to do as much as they did.

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

September 10th, 3:00 P.M.

Dan had visited Ichika in his hospital room once. He cried manly tears and complained about Ichika 'always getting to be the badass one'. Ichika and Chifuyu had both been fine to go on the 8th, but the doctors wanted to keep them in for observation for a couple of days.

Laura decided to skip the long series of surgeries available to her that could keep her out of combat for a while, instead electing to replace her arm with a prosthetic from the elbow down. The order was being processed, but she wasn't to leave the hospital until the new arm was in, to keep her under observation.

Ichika and Chifuyu had picked Charlotte up from the hotel that she had been staying at, after the Orimura siblings had been discharged, and were now heading back to their house to rest from the events a trio of days prior. Tatenashi had said that she would be in contact sometime within the next week or so, and to rest until them.

When Ichika, Chifuyu and Charlotte arrived home, they were greeted by three letters and a pendant sitting on the kitchen table...

XXXXXXXX

AN: So, here we are. The pentultimate chapter of Part 2. End of fights and part of the aftermath. Laura hitting Second Shift.

It's funny, because in the way I think of this, the character development has made Ichika a Seinen hero and Laura a Shonen hero. In canon, Ichika is definitely a shonen hero and Laura is adorable. She's not going to be nearly as defrosted as she was in canon, especially not now that fighting has begun.


	22. Part 2, Chapter 9: Aftermath

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

_Text_ means point-of-view character's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

_**Tatenashi**_

September 10th, 2030

Tatenashi overlooked the city of Tokyo from her company's skyscraper central offices. In her hand was her cell phone.

"Yes, Tabane-san?"

"Tate-chan! Guess what? That project you had me working on is ready! I'll send you the coordinates now~! I'm already transferring my employees to the labs and security sections. Go! Recruit! Make sure to bring Ikkun and Chi-chan! And remember... Having fun is well and good, but winning is more important! Jaa ne~!"

As Tatenashi's phone went dead, Tatenashi had a slight twitch in her eyebrow and a grimace on her face. She sighed.

"Mooh~. She's too energetic even for my tastes sometimes..."

Tatenashi looked over the large pile of folders on her desk. Each one was a part of her company's agenda, or hiring information for a secretary.

The UN had absorbed the Phantom Hunters and were going over a list of IS pilots to choose their first forty eight pilots, or first mechanized IS Company.

Even if it meant having to go to school, she would get this war done.

It was her family's duty, after all.

XXXXXXXX

**Part 2, Chapter 9: Aftermath of a Battle, Start of a War**

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

September 10, 2030, late afternoon

Orimura residence, Ichika's room

Ichika looked down at the letter in his hands for the fifth time in as many minutes, distress and frustration clear on his features.

_Madoka..._

_**Dear Ichika-niichan,**_

_**If you're reading this, they I guess that we didn't manage to recruit you. That's okay, I guess.**_

_**...I'm honestly not sure why I decided to write this. I have several tests that just finished calculations, and I have several subjects available, as well.**_

_**I really just knew that, somehow, I needed to write this.**_

_**Needed to give myself a sense of closure, if you will.**_

_**I'm sure you'll understand why.**_

_**We're twins, after all.**_

_**Nevertheless, even after all these years, I still don't understand why you refused to acknowledge Tou-sama and Kaa-sama.**_

_**Chifuyu-neesama was an excellent guardian, but she just wasn't either of our parents.**_

_**She was our sister.**_

_**Our parents are important. Filial piety matters, Niichan.**_

_**What's wrong with that?**_

_**If you still hate them, you really are a Bad Boy.**_

_**-Madoka Orimura**_

_**P.S. The other half of the necklace- because if I cannot be reunited with my twin, at least it may, and I cannot afford sentiment.**_

_**P.P.S. You may want to keep an eye on your girl. I am certain that she's going to be our first target should anything happen...**_

Ichika crumpled the letter into a small ball and threw it as hard as he could at the wall.

_What the hell is with her?_

_That's bullshit!_

_They abandoned us!_

_They forgot about us!_

_And then they just expected us to come right back!_

_And then they played favorites!_

_Oh yes, I'm a Bad Boy now._

_I've always been a Bad Boy, Madoka._

_Dammit..._

Ichika looked down at the necklace in his hand, the two halves he and his sister once carried now united.

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

September 10th, late afternoon

Orimura residence, living room

Charlotte was staring blankly at her letter, mixed thoughts swirling throughout her mind.

_**Dear Dunois-san,**_

_**Hello. I'm Ichika's little sister.**_

_**Then again, I suppose you already know that. He might have told you.**_

_**Sure, I can't be certain, I don't know how he's changed recently, but I know that when it was just him, me and Nee-sama, he was fairly prone to not telling people much.**_

_**I suppose I should appreciate you taking care of him these past few months, but Nee-sama has been the one raising him.**_

_**Besides, it's not like we, his real family, will ever allow him to be with someone like you.**_

_**You should just give up.**_

_**-Madoka Orimura**_

Charlotte stared at it for another couple of seconds before tossing into the garbage.

_No, she can't..._

_She shouldn't..._

_It doesn't..._

_No..._

_No, she hasn't talked to Ichika even once between the kidnapping and the incident in July._

_Does that even count?_

_She doesn't even know me..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Chifuyu**_

Same time

Orimura residence, Chifuyu's room

Chifuyu took a sip from a can of beer as she stared at the letter in her hand.

_**Dear Chifuyu-Neesama,**_

_**I can't believe you.**_

_**We couldn't even kill you.**_

_**We had the advantage of a surprise attack.**_

_**How dare you live! **_

_**Why?**_

_**Why do you continue to live, with Nii-chan?**_

_**Are you laughing at me secretly, Nee-sama?**_

_**How dare you...**_

_**You're unforgivable.**_

_**-Madoka Orimura**_

Chifuyu snorted, then ripped apart the letter and envelope and threw them on her cooler.

_Ridiculous._

_I thought I taught her better than that._

_I'd think that Akemi and Ryuugaki would teach her better than that._

_She doesn't..._

Chifuyu sighed and took another sip of beer.

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

Orimura residence, just outside Chifuyu's room

Charlotte knocked on the door in front of her a few times.

"Orimura-sensei?"

"Come in, Charlotte."

Charlotte blinked, unsure if she had heard correctly, before opening the door and stepping in, closing it behind herself.

The room itself was rather sparse and spartan in design, and didn't look very frequently lived in. It had obviously been getting more use than usual in the past couple of weeks, as Charlotte noted a bit of a hasty clean-up job in the more crucial areas. The sheets on the bed were wrinkled, more so than expected- like they had been shoved down on the bed, made and ready for use, for a very long time before only recently coming to use again.

Charlotte noticed that the newest-looking appliance in the room was a cooler, which had a hastily ripped-apart envelope and letter thrown on top. Chifuyu was sitting on the side of her bed, holding a can of beer in her hand, and from both the smell and the lack of other cans, Charlotte concluded that it was likely her first.

"What do you need, Charlotte?"

Charlotte stopped, realizing that she had heard correctly.

"Uh... Why are you calling me Charlotte now, Orimura-sensei."

Chifuyu laughed bitterly, before setting aside the can of beer in her hand.

"I'm not your teacher anymore, Charlotte. I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be a teacher again. Plus, you're dating my little brother. I think you can call me Chifuyu if you want."

"Right... Chifuyu-san."

Charlotte sat down on the chair across from Chifuyu's bed.

She looked around, her feet shifting insecurely and her eyes refusing to make eye contact. Finally, as if gathering courage and strength, she took a deep breath, and asked.

"Chifuyu-san, have you ever killed before?"

Chifuyu looked surprised, but it quickly faded away to understanding. Chifuyu closed her eyes, a solemn look on her face.

"Yes. When Ichika was kidnapped, and once in Germany."

Charlotte seemed to gain courage and looked straight at Chifuyu.

"Does... Does it get any easier?"

Chifuyu shook her head.

"No. And it shouldn't, either. Being able to kill without some hesitation, even if it's only mental, people shouldn't be able to. Killing without some regret... nobody should be able to do so. However, you should also keep yourself in a position where you know you did the best you could. And you did. You were in a position where you had no other way, and the alternative was dying yourself. None of us even knew that their ISs were designed to keep on going after running out of shielding. We couldn't have known, and so you defended yourself, and the other people there, and any future people that she may have killed- so remember, and regret, but regret only that you had to kill, not that she is dead."

"Is that how you managed?"

Chifuyu looked guilty for a second.

"No. I don't regret anyone that I killed when Ichika was kidnapped. I regret not getting punished for it, but I do not regret the deed. Do not take after me, Charlotte. I don't make a good role model."

Charlotte looked vaguely horrified, and Chifuyu winced.

"Of course you do! You're a skilled, independent woman known worldwide for her intelligence and ability. You dominated the competitive circuit with other pilots using guns with nothing but a single sword. In a male-dominated society, you were the first to show the world as a whole that a woman can be just as strong, just as competent, as any man. Chifuyu-san, I'm sure that at least half of our Academy's alumni and students looked up to you, and that you were the one to inspire them to such heights in the first place. You've inspired a generation of women to become the best they can be, Chifuyu-san. If you aren't a good role model, than who is?"

Chifuyu looked surprised about Charlotte's statements, and opened her mouth.

She closed it with a click after.

Charlotte solemnly looked at Chifuyu, patted her shoulder, and nodded to herself.

"I'll talk to you later."

Charlotte calmly walked out of the room and and shut the door behind her.

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

September 12th, 2030

Orimura Residence, Ichika's Room

_**Ichika Orimura,**_

_**You have been chosen by the United Nations as one of three-dozen candidates for initial membership in the United Nations Joint Air and Artillery Force.**_

_**Should you accept membership, you will be sent to the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in the United Kingdom, where you will take a specially-made, accelerated course to join the UNJAAF upon your graduation mid-May.**_

_**As an IS Pilot, you will be the only man to participate in the program.**_

_**Please indicate your acceptance or rejection of this invitation as soon as possible. Note that we require it at the latest by September 20th, 2030. If you do accept, your flight for the United Kingdom will be on the 25th and you will start you classes on the 1st of October.**_

Ichika stared at the message for several minutes before nodding to himself. He knew what he needed to do, now it a question of convincing his sister to let him do it. However, there was one other question he had to have answered first.

Ichika got himself dressed, walked out of his room, and knocked on the door to the guestroom that Charlotte had been staying in.

"Who is it?" He heard solemnly from the other side.

"It's Ichika. Can I come in?"

"I guess."

Ichika opened the door and walked in, sitting himself down next to Charlotte before wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She smiled softly and leaned into his shoulder.

"Did you get the email?" He asked calmly. Ichika felt Charlotte's shoulders tense under his arm, before she relaxed slightly.

"I did." She replied in a soft voice.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not right now. Can you... Can you just hold me, for a little bit?"

Ichika smiled.

"Of course I can."

Ichika moved Charlotte a bit, so that she was leaning on his chest, instead of his shoulder, and wrapped both of his arms around her waist. Smiling gently, he rested his head on her shoulder, pressing his cheek to hers.

"So yes, Ichika, I did get one of the emails for the UNAAF."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Ichika asked calmly.

"What are _you_?" Charlotte responded.

"You already know the answer to that question." He replied.

Charlotte rubbed her cheek against his for a second.

"Yes, I do."

Ichika just held her, and basked in the feelings of warmth and peace that she gave him.

"You're afraid, aren't you?" He asked gently.

Charlotte winced slightly.

"I'm not sure if I can kill again..." She replied softly.

"It's okay." He told her.

"No, it's not. It makes me a coward. That's not okay. I don't want to be a coward."

"You know, Char? Sometimes, it's braver to show be afraid, and stay by and do it, than to show no fear and do it. Other times, it's braver to admit to your fear and keep away from it, than just silently stand by and roast in your own cowardice, regretting your decision every day for the rest of your life. I cannot make this decision for you. It's your life. I can answer your questions, I can reassure you that your chosen path was the right one- which it will be, if you think of it properly- but I cannot make that decision for you. I don't think I could live with myself if I did."

"But what if I make the wrong decision? What if I kill the wrong person? What if-" Ichika cut her off by pressing his mouth to hers. After kissing her for a few seconds, he pulled back.

"Don't hesitate. Look forward. Make a choice, and Chifuyu-nee and I will support and help you. Your father might, too. Talk to him. I'm going to make breakfast."

Ichika kissed her quickly once more, before slowly disentangling himself from her and walking out of the room.

Charlotte slumped back onto her bed, hand covering her forehead.

"I just don't know..." She whispered hoarsely.

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

September 19th, 2030

Orimura Residence

Charlotte looked to Laura sitting across from her on the kitchen table.

On the previous day, she had been discharged from the hospital, and was currently sharing a room with Charlotte, who had been rather silent the past week. Her new prosthetic right arm was working well, though she still had a bit more physical therapy to go through for it. Laura had every intention of going to the military school, that was something that Charlotte didn't doubt.

Charlotte had already called and talked to her father, who told her that it was her decision. Charlotte was of the personal opinion that he didn't really care, but she couldn't be certain.

After eating, Charlotte twisted her hands nervously for a few seconds before asking,

"Laura-chan, can I talk to you? Upstairs?"

"Yes."

As Charlotte and Laura walked out, Ichika and Chifuyu looked at each other briefly before they raced to the TV.

Charlotte shook her head as she went up.

They walked in to the guest room, and Laura shut the door behind them.

"Laura-chan, how do you deal with being a soldier?"

Laura looked in Charlotte's eyes, her gaze unwavering and stony.

"I do it because I know nothing else. I cannot be anything else. I am a soldier. I know nothing else. I fight for my country and my people. I fight under my commander's orders and I fight for the innocents who have no business in war. Charlotte, you can be strong."

Charlotte broke eye contact and nervously shuffled her feet.

"But... What if I don't? What if I can't be strong?"

"Then you will be. You cannot be strong." Laura stated without hesitation.

"What? But you just said I could..."

"I did. You could be strong. You could not be strong. You could be both. You could be neither. Strength is..." Laura paused, clearly struggling to put her thoughts into words.

"Strength is resolve. It's not about how hard you hit. It's about how determined you are. It's about how much you want the other bastards to die for their country. It's about how much you want to live for your country! If you fight, thinking you're weak or going to die, then you will! You'll die for your country, and nothing could save you. Win! Don't cower! Don't hide! Fight! Kick, bite, punch! Keep on fighting until every goddamn one of the bastards that you're fighting dies for their country. Then, and only then, can you stop! So, what will it be? Will you be strong? Will you win? Or will you resign yourself to weakness?"

Charlotte looked down at her feet.

_Can I be strong? No, it's not _can_, it's _will_. I _will_ be strong. I _will_ live. I _will_ fight, because I can accept nothing else from myself. I might make a difference, I might not. That doesn't matter. I will win. I will be strong. I will live. I am Charlotte Dunois, and I refuse to be defeated here!_

Charlotte looked back to Laura, with a confident grin on her face and a fire in her eyes that hadn't been there previously.

"I will fight! I will win!"

Laura smirked.

"What was that, soldier?" She asked, raising her voice slightly.

"I will fight! I will win!" Charlotte replied, matching her volume to Laura's.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Laura yelled.

"I WILL FIGHT! I WILL WIN!" Charlotte matched to Laura's volume again.

"Good!" Laura declared. She got up, turned on her heel, and walked, straight-backed, out of the room, closing the door behind herself.

_Right, send my response first. After that, go tell everyone._

XXXXXXXX

_**Tabane**_

September 19th, 2033, 18:45 hours

Alice's Mansion

Tabane cackled from within her basement. Matsuda was standing outside of the door, but he decided to just leave the meal in front of the door after knocking a couple of times. She was in one of her moods, and it could take a while for her to come out.

Tabane rubbed her hands gleefully together as she ignored her frizzy hair. The Tabane-san~ Lovely Teleporter 2030 (name subject to change) was finally complete! Now, she just needed to work on mass production.

And relocation.

And filing those pesky patents without those stupid scientists finding out how she builds her toys (that was, after all, what she did with the Luminous Cores).

Speaking of which, she should probably send IS-sized Luminous Core construction information to America and couple of other important UN countries. There was, after all, a war to fight, and they needed every advantage that they could get.

She might even send blueprints on Fold-Out Armor, too.

No. Best not to get ahead of herself. They need to adjust to Luminous Cores, first.

Maybe once the teleporter is done, she could work on some Anti-IS weapons, powered by individual Luminous Cores, that could be wielded by infantry?

Hmmm, there's a thought.

Might not be a bad idea.

Might even get her some more fun.

Might make them think of her as even more (shudder) responsible...

Tabane sighed.

"Well, first I need to finish the Tabane-san~ Super Teleporter 3000 (name subject to change)!" She muttered to herself.

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika Orimura**_

September 28th, 2033, 11:32 hours

England, Alcott Family Mausoleum

Ichika softly sighed to himself as looked around to all of the guests present, dressed only in black, at the funeral. He recognized around half of them, as they were all survivors of the massacre, as it was now known as, that had taken Cecilia's life. Of course, because of this, there was press everywhere, and Ichika felt vaguely disgusted with it all, even though some objective part of himself knew that what they were doing was _necessary_, it was _important _to help establish the morale and tone of the world, he couldn't help but be vaguely disgusted with it all.

He was quite surprised to say that he could feel the grief now, but he knew that he couldn't afford to feel it. Not yet. He had to be strong. He could break down, knowing that this happened on his orders, knowing that it was _his_ fault all of this was...

_No, don't go there. Down that way lies naught but destruction..._

Ichika took a deep, calming breath as he waited for a sobbing Rin to finish her part of the eulogy. All of Cecilia's classmates, as well as some of her mentors from her training, were speaking. Ichika was the last person to go, and Rin was second-to-last.

As Rin stepped off the podium, Ichika subconsciously stood straighter, focused straight ahead, and schooled his features to a carefully neutral expression.

His steps echoed through the marble tiles, and Ichika knew that everyone was awaiting what he had to say with baited breath.

When he arrived, he turned around and put his hands on the podium.

"I would not be the man I am today without Cecilia Alcott." He began abruptly, no motion on his face betraying any of his thoughts.

"She taught me several important lessons in life, lessons that I should have learned earlier, but hadn't. One of those lessons was in the nature of pride. Not arrogance. Pride. Pride in your actions, of your achievements. She demonstrated to me the value of pride, of justice. She showed me how pride is good, with her never-ending self-confidence, where nothing could put a dent in her belief in herself and in her friends." Ichika made a decisive sweeping motion with his hand.

"She taught me how pride is bad, with her initial underestimation of others, including myself. _That _is an important habit to break, and one that I almost never did. She showed me what happened when you failed, but at the same time, she showed me how to rise back up again from your failures. To accept them graciously, even when your pride shouldn't allow it." Ichika made a sweep of the audience with his head. They were hanging on to his words.

"However, another aspect of her pride, and the one that was the hardest lesson for me to learn, was about trust. In her mind, if you were her equal, than you could be trusted to do your job- nothing more, and nothing less. She trusted each and every one of us to be able to do our part, and help her to hers. We failed. She died with pride befitting of her stature, fighting for what she believed in, yes. But I failed her personally, because I didn't trust her. No matter what I do, I will always remember her, her death, and the lessons that she had taught me. So, knowing this, I must say that my greatest regret about her death, is that I won't be able to trust in her now that she's gone. Thank you." Ichika bowed to the crowd before walking back off the podium, face never betraying the roiling emotions he felt within his heart.

XXXXXXXX

_**Laura Bodewig**_

September 2nd, 2033, 19:00 hours

Alexandria, Egypt

Laura panted heavily, and took in a deep breath and tried to ignore the sweat dripping into her eyes as she tried to find a safe place to hide from the fire that seemed to burning in ever-increasing amounts of heat no matter where she went. Everything within sight was ablaze, and she knew that it was only her IS's life support systems that were keeping her from succumbing to the heat and smoke in the environment around her.

Laura shuddered as she felt the heat was over her. Ever since she had seen and felt the heat at the Schwarzer Hase base, she knew that she would forever have nightmares of fire.

The Auge des Sturms knew that she needed to kill this woman. Neither the Sen'nen Fubuki nor the Tempest di Fuoco would be able to make it in time. Laura had incorrectly assumed that she could take Autumn on by herself, and only took her three support infantry along because they had insisted, while Ichika and Alessandra, along with the rest of the Gardeners, cleaned up the smaller enemies.

_Never making that mistake again..._

Her communications were jammed, probably some new toy that had been installed on Autumn's Great Arachne.

Laura felt and heard, more than saw, the movements of the monstrously large IS, towering at a solid twenty feet, with eight twelve-foot-long legs that had flamethrowers filling in every possible space that they would fit, an immobilizing web-cannon on the right arm, and a large sword in the other. To make matters worse, Laura knew that, like the reddish-purple, feathery-looking wings on the upper back of her Schwarzer Regen Schutzengel, the pincer-like mountings on the Great Arachne's back were the form that her Fold-Out Armor took. The Great Arachne's Fold-Out Armor was somehow capable of covering the IS's entire body and acting as a second source of shield energy, rather than the kinetic shield that most applications of the technology were used for.

Laura growled as she remembered the towering IS standing over the buildings at the Schwarzer Hase base when she had first fought in Germany, and remembered as she watched Clarissa burn to death in the hangar. Laura wouldn't be able to sleep soundly until either her or Autumn was dead, of that much she was certain.

It had taken all of Laura's missiles and too many explosive thrown spears, which she could at least materialize outside of her hand now, but she had managed to destroy the Fold-Out Armor and Laura estimated at least a quarter of her opponent's shield energy.

Laura waited for her enemy to move past her, then carefully flew out behind her and unloaded four spears onto Autumn's exposed back. Autumn took the hits, and with a semi-inarticulate scream of rage, spun without rotating the spider's legs. She ran to Laura, who used AIC to stop her motions, before Laura's concentration broke for a second, too strained to maintain all of the shields she had that kept her from direct exposure to the fires roaring around her.

Autumn used this advantage to pin Laura between a pair of her claws, and Laura charged her rail guns.

At the same time a trio of flamethrowers began to burn the right side of her body, Laura fired her rail gun.

Maintaining her concentration, Laura moved her left hand up to point it in a fist at Autumn, just as she felt both her and Autumn's shields break. As the wires from her fist travelled to Autumn's torso, she felt the fires burn her face and slowly melt through the armor on the right side of her ribcage.

The wires connected with Autumn's torso just as the fires started to heat Laura's armor to the point of pain, but Laura's massive pain tolerance showed itself as she grit her teeth and bore it, detonating the explosive tips on her wires as they locked into Autumn's stomach.

"This is for Clarissa, you pyromaniacal bitch."

Laura watched with a slightly smug smirk as Autumn's lower body became nothing more than blood, some bone chips and a couple of rather disgusting bits of something squishy. She flew over, cut off and grabbed Autumn's head, then fired a barrage of explosive lances at the Great Arachne until she was satisfied that it was nothing more than a useless hump of metal. She placed her remaining dozen explosive tips on the piece where she figured the IS's Luminous Core was, and flew away as quickly as she could, keeping her eyes open everywhere. Once she was a hundred feet away, she detonated the explosives, creating and explosion that further demolished the city and eliminated any trace of the great IS and Season that had once been there.

A couple of pain-filled minutes later, as Laura's adrenaline wore off, she landed in front of a tent with the image of a hoe and a sword crossed over a bomb above the door. She dematerialized her IS, threw the head at the door, and collapsed as the world turned to black. She vaguely heard voices,

"It's Second Lieutenant Bodewig!"

"Oh god! Somebody get a medic!"

"Is that head...?"

Shortly after, the world went to black.

XXXXXXXX

_**Dan Gotanda**_

October 4th, 2033, 06:00 hours

Tokyo, NOJOB-controlled Japan

"...And this is Bullet, signing out. Remember everyone, employment is plentiful in Edogawa right now!"

_It's been over three years since the criminal organization Phantom Task first appeared on the world's stage..._

Dan shut the mic off and sighed, running a hand through his scarlet locks as he switched the lights in his basement off, grabbed his handgun and locked the door behind him.

_Their first action was to consolidate their power in the countries that had pledged their support to the Phantom Task objectives under a united communist regime._

He walked upstairs as he stored the handgun in his shirt.

_Following this, they began to use their golems and superior numbers of ISs to attack major cities throughout the world._

With water for tea on the burner, he prepared the tea leaves.

_London was completely razed._

He prepared rice.

_Beijing was heavily damaged._

He cracked the eggs.

_Tokyo was next, but they captured it, instead._

Dan sighed as the water started boiling.

_They used it as a base of operations and made a rapid strike across the nation, taking over the islands of Japan, with the exception of Kyūshū._

He added the tea leaves and let the tea settle as he went back to making breakfast.

_After they consolidated their power in Japan, creating the NOrthern Japanese Occupation Bureau, they completely suppressed and monitored all wireless communications to the outside world._

"Ran, breakfast!" Dan called to his little sister.

_That was a year and a half ago. Nobody within the country has had accurate information about what's going on outside since then._

"Coming, Nii!" He heard from deeper in the house.

_I do know that Ichika is still fighting. I think that they call him the 'Sen'nen Fubuki,' or something similar. I think it's kind of silly, but that's just me. I know he probably doesn't like it much._

Dan placed breakfast onto the plates just as Ran arrived into the kitchen.

_The other two names mentioned with his are Laura Bodewig, known to many as Auge des Sturms and Alessandra Moressi, the Tempesta di Fuoco. I never really got to know Alessandra very well, but I had a bit of crush on Laura._

Dan and Ran sat down and began eating. A few minutes in, there was some frantic, harsh knocking on the front door. Dan set down his utensils and called,

"Coming!"

_After all, the war had started, and we didn't have time for anything after the war had begun._

He opened the door to a pair of women standing straight, with harsh faces and black uniforms. He paled as he noticed the silver, ghostly phoenix on their right breasts.

"Dan Gotanda?" The right woman asked.

"Yes, officer?"

"We're with the Northern Japanese Occupation Force. You're under arrest under accusations of anti-government activity. You will come with us now, please." She told him in a tone that indicated it wasn't really a choice.

Before the War, Dan Gotanda was always of the opinion that the most memorable thing that he would ever do, the thing that people would care the most about him, was whatever he would say for Ichika's biography when Ichika inevitably died first.

Really, the son of a pair of chefs who just happens to be unusually good at hiding himself, gathering information, and fiddling with radios is in no way going to do anything really, really important in his life, right?

That was before the rebels started recruiting.

That was before he started monitoring the NOJOBs' patrol patterns.

That was before he started using a radio talk show, under a rather uncreative false name (Seriously? The English meaning of his first name?) to tell everyone in Tokyo just where NOJOB was most heavily patrolling every six to eight hours, under the guise of telling everyone where the most employment was.

_Frankly, I'm was amazed it took the NOJOB this long to find me._

_So, now I'm important. A revolutionary. And I'm likely to die for it._

_Because that's how the world works. That's how it always has worked, and that's how it always will work._

_And sometimes,_

A beautiful, silver-haired woman landed between the agents.

_Sometimes, fate throws you a bone._

Withdrawing a pair of knives from her jacket, she reaches out and...

_**Part 2 End**_

XXXXXXXX

_**Omake 1: Birthdays**_

On their sixteenth birthday, it had barely been two weeks since the Battle of IS Academy, and he was preparing for military school, like everyone else who survived the operation. She was given, from their mother and father, access to the Organization's supercomputer, which she used to experiment with a device that overrode the constant optimization on the IS Core. She decided against actually putting it into common use, the constant optimization and influx of data were too valuable to introduce a card like that to the playing field, not when there was every possibility of it being replicated, if their scientists hadn't already found it, and scrapped it for the same reasons. She vaguely wondered if this process was going to infinitely repeat itself in a loop of discovery and concealment, just as he wondered if officer school was going to be worthwhile.

On their seventeenth birthday, he was too busy leading his team through a heavily-defended enemy base in Syria to bother with a party or celebration. As a present for breeching it and eventually capturing the data and destroying the base, he gained a promotion to Lieutenant. He honestly liked it, though his platoon thought him a bit young, they grew to respect him quickly, especially when he was always at the forefront of their battles. For her birthday, her parents let her try out her new poison gas on captured enemy pilots, promising to let them free if they managed to survive, even on life support. She never kept the promise.

On their eighteenth birthday, he took a week's leave starting on that day and drank himself into a stupor on the 27th and 28th, burning almost two of his recent paychecks in the process, before being dragged back to his quarters to 'sober up' by his sister. He told her 'she was being a hypocrite', she told him to 'take a shower.' His girlfriend came in a bit later, and he cried because his twin could now be arrested and executed for war crimes due to her actions. His girlfriend slapped him, told him to get a hold of himself, and they celebrated after he calmed down. His party was a day later- the Gardeners and some other showed up. For her birthday, her parents gave her the IS of one of her friends, showed her its pilot, and told her to 'make it work.' She grinned and took to it gleefully, using up a few captured enemy soldiers in the process, because the enemy had done something smart and IS pilots were hard to capture now.

On their nineteenth birthday, he requested that his platoon be placed on the Battalion under Col. Tatenashi Sarashiki in their operation to retake Tokyo. His request was granted. She went out partying with a wig and some colored-contacts, seduced a man, then tried out a new poison that she placed in her lipstick that triggered based on gender and skin contact. It worked like a charm, and she tried it again in a different part of the world a few days later.

XXXXXXXX

AN: Aaaand that's a wrap. Yes, my beloved readers, three-year timeskip.

I've got to say, much like chapter 12, this was originally a transition chapter, designed to move people from the end of Part 2 to the beginning of Part 3 and lay the groundwork for many of the events during the three-year timeskip. And then Charlotte and Chifuyu started talking. I'm honestly quite happy with that bit- it came out of almost nowhere, but I knew it was a good idea, and then it started going in directions that I wasn't expecting- Chifuyu especially is interesting for me to write, because she's really far less aloof than she'd like to pretend.

Titles introduced here:

Ichika- Sen'nen Fubuki, (written as 吹千年) translates to Millennium Snowstorm.

Laura- Auge des Sturms, translates to Eye of the Storm.

Alessandra Moressi- Tempesta di Fuoco, translates to Fire Storm.

Gardeners- Ichika's platoon, specializes in demolition. Battle cry is, "Gardeners, let's turn some soil!" Latin motto is: In interitu praepollens. Translation: In destruction, unrivaled. Idea courtesy of my editor.


	23. Part 3, Chapter 1: Liberation of Japan 1

Infinite Stratos, and all its characters, belong to Izuru Yumizuru

Text means point-of-view character's thoughts

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

?, 203?, 1?:? hours

Phantom Task Base, ?, South America

Ichika Orimura blinked as the world blearily took itself to a more solid and visible state.

He ignored the water that had drenched IS and clothing uncovered by it, instead taking careful note of the fires in the floor above him and the loose cables that were perfectly capable of causing him serious harm.

_Goddamn, that's a lot of power._

Ichika examined his body for injuries, absently noting that around half of his men would be cackling like a bunch of pyromaniacal lunatics about the sheer power that went into that laser.

Well, they were a bunch of pyromaniacal lunatics.

Joey probably thought that a bigger boom was better.

_The lunatic probably was the one to modify Fubuki like this in the first place..._

Ichika heard some coughing and a surprised inhalation of breath to his right, so he stood and flew there.

He looked down to see a short, black-haired woman, with similar physical features to himself, in her purple and blue IS.

"Madoka..."

"Hi, Nii-san. Listen, do we really have to do this?"

"I thought that this was what you wanted, Imouto?"

"I did, too. But, I don't want to fight you. Or Nee-sama. But I don't want to let Hahaue and Chichiue down, either. Couldn't you retreat?"

"I'm sorry, Madoka. But I specifically requested the mission to destroy the Phantom Task Science Division."

Madoka's eyes widened and dilated, even as she shakily stood up.

"What... do you mean, Nii-san?"

"I'm sorry, Madoka. But... I can't let you be court-martialed."

"WHY NOT? Where is the the justice in killing me? Your sister?"

"There is none, Madoka. This isn't about justice. This isn't about duty. This is about family. The best thing I can do for you, and for the sweet girl you used to be, is to put you down now. You are my family, you are my problem, and Chifuyu-nee and I cannot allow anyone else to do this."

"But, I'm your sister!"

"I'll fight you to the death because you're my sister, and your crimes against humanity are unforgivable. Prepare yourself, sister."

"Nii-san..." Madoka whispered, even as she made a couple of slashing motions with her hands, and a dozen thick shields, as well as debris from their environment, began to float in the air.

XXXXXXXX

_**I am proud to present...**_

_**Ichika's Trust**_

_**Part 3: Global War**_

_**Chapter 1: The Liberation of Japan, Part I**_

XXXXXXXX

_**Dan Gotanda**_

October 4th, 2033, 06:05 hours

A woman with silver hair, pulled into a ponytail that looked fairly short, landed between the NOJOB agents ready to arrest Dan.

As she was landing, the woman reached into the black coat that went down to her knees and withdrew a pair of combat knives, which she embeds in the necks of both the agents sent to retrieve Dan.

Even if he hand't recognized her from his high school days before the war, Dan instantly knew from the silver hair and black trench coat that this woman was the Auge des Sturms- Laura Bodewig, pilot of the Schwarzer Regen Schutzengel.

Her face had lost much of that fat that designated her as a younger, growing girl. Her eyes seemed much sharper than in the past, like she could cut right through you again and again. At the same time, her general stance seemed more oriented to preventing others from being harmed than bringing harm to others.

A jagged line of a scar went down from the middle of her forehead, through her golden left eye, to the middle of her cheek. The lower right side of her face had a scar that could only be from a burn, though it looked like it had been healed only recently. It travelled down below her chin and under the white, form-fitting jumpsuit that she was wearing underneath her trench coat. The form-fitting suit that she wore underneath her trench coat seemed sleeveless, with a scaled pattern, and it reached into the black combat boots she wore up to her knees, showing her more mature body and muscular legs well. On both of her hands was a dark, reddish-purple glove that stretched tightly over her skin and went into the trench coat. Dan could see a black garter belt on Laura's right thigh, but he wasn't sure about its purpose. Over her heart was an indication of rank and several awards.

_US military ranks? What are those awards?_

Dan felt his face flush and his heart rate quicken. He always was interested in her, and probably would have asked her out once she had been better adjusted to normal society.

_And here she is, never going to properly adjust now..._

"Dan Gotanda?" She asked in a brief, clipped tone. It seemed extremely commanding, and Dan felt himself subconsciously standing straighter.

"Yes, ma'am." He replied.

"The Colonel told us you were one of our priorities. Are you of sufficient health and rest to come back to the command center?" She asked him.

"Yes, ma'am. If you give me a couple of minutes, I am also in position to secure some radio equipment and put your UN forces in touch with the largest rebel faction in Tokyo."

Dan noticed nine women in similar garb to Laura, without the gloves and a green trench coat instead of black, as well as three men in white camouflage all taking position around Laura, and a good two dozen men going around and checking all of the buildings and rooftops for other soldiers. Several female NOJOBs were already tied up with three women doing searches.

Laura grunted in acknowledgement and nodded to four of the men behind her, who ran forward to Dan, two on each side to Laura.

"These two on my right will help you get what you need. The two on my left will bring your sister to a safer location."

Dan nodded and ran back to his basement. He had some packing to do.

XXXXXXXX

**_Ichika_**

October 4th, 06:14 hours

A man was hunched over a holographic table, displaying a map of Tokyo that included movements on all the people in the city. IS Pilots, UN soldiers, civilians, and known Phantom Task agents were each in a different color on the map.

The man's spiky black hair extended down to just cover his ears and reach to the small of his back, with a single, thicker spike between his eyes, under which you could barely see the tail end of a thin scar. His face was fairly angular and his brown eyes seemed to be constantly examining and scanning his surroundings.

Covering his shoulders, arms, and coming down to his knees, was a black trench coat with a single silver, flower-like pattern above his heart, by which were several ribbons. Underneath the trench coat was a set of white military fatigues, with a pair of black boots that came just below his knees. He had a pair of black gloves that came just down to his wrists concealing his hands.

A woman in uniform, saluted the man and entered the tent.

"Lieutenant Colonel Orimura, Second Lieutenant Bodewig has just entered camp."

Ichika looked at the Sergeant.

"Send her and the civilian in immediately."

"Yes, sir!"

Ichika put on his communicator.

"All Gardeners gather in our tent. We have information to gain and an assault to plan."

He switched channels.

"Colonel Sarashiki, this is Lieutenant Colonel Orimura. Dan Gotanda is coming to base. Permission to gather enemy deployment information and prepare to send out the Gardeners to begin the assault?"

"Granted. Ask him if he knows anything about fortifications in the harbor district, I'll send a Battalion over there. If you keep on doing this, I'll have to recommend you for a promotion."

"Whatever you want, Colonel Sarashiki."

XXXXXXXX

_**Charlotte**_

A woman, with blonde hair bound into a bun and ponytail on her head, was standing atop a warehouse in the harbor district of Tokyo and surveying her surroundings. Her arms were crossed, bringing more attention to her above-average chest. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans, a long-sleeved white camisole and boots that went into her pants.

She looked down at the various men in white combat uniforms, carrying rifles, as well as the wide variety of men and women who were either dead, restrained, or being shipped to prison ships.

At the ocean, she could see almost a dozen ships in the horizon. Most importantly, she could see the great white ship at the head of the fleet.

The Novum Saeculo, the UN flagship, and primary command center of the UNJAAF. The size of a medium city, powered by a network of over three dozen Luminous Cores, and constantly being updated with Tabane's latest and greatest in stealth and concealment technology. Most of the UNJAAF member nations have one to two major ports that are pick-up locations. The security on the great white ship is such that there is an extremely short list of people approved to land on the ship itself. The entire ship, like most cities that have had any sort of reconstruction in the past three years, is completely surrounded by an energy shield around ten-thousand times as strong as what a standard IS has.

The woman lifted her right hand, revealing a tight orange bracelet wrapped around her wrist, and touched her index finger to her ear.

"Captain Dunois, reporting in. Harbor has been secured. Prepared for extraction."

"This is Operations Director Sarashiki. Assault and Protection Battalion 3 is clear to return to ship. APB 4 is to stay and keep the harbor secure."

Charlotte sighed in relief, and materialized her IS.

The Danseur des armes Infinite was Charlotte's variation of the Generic Raphael Revive Mk. II after having achieved Second Shift. Its orange limbs were all extremely thin and limited Charlotte's movement in as few ways as possible. Coming around the front and shoulders was a wide scarf. Its hands and feet were humanoid, with its arms having an orange, opera glove-like design coming up to her elbows. Its fingers were long and thin, much like Charlotte's, and they had an almost one-to-one ratio in size to her hands. Its porcelain legs covered Charlotte's down to a pair of simple dance slippers that covered its feet. Like the arms, the IS's legs weren't lengthened in any way. Wrapped around both ankles and wrists were what appeared to be black bracelets, made from spikes of metal.

Mounted on its back a pair of small wings. They seemed to almost constantly be changing in shape and nature, so one couldn't really tell their true shape. Suspended between these wings was a spiked, orange ring.

The spikes on this ring could vary in direction and act as propulsion for the IS. These spikes could also fire bullets in small, piercing bursts, much like the spikes mounted on her wrists and ankles. Stored in the Armurerie de la Reine was a set of blades that could be attached to the tips of the wrist-mounted spikes. These cause the hand to function with a similar power output to a Shield Pierce, which can deal a great deal of force damage and possibly damage an enemy IS's armor or pilot directly with blunt trauma.

Within the Armurerie de la Reine was every weapon that Charlotte, or Ichika, or any of the engineers working as her support group, could conceive. Included were some of Charlotte's favorites from earlier in the war, such as the pistols that she used to great effect against Spring, a pair of shotguns, and over a dozen SMGs.

"This is Operations Director Sarashiki. Assault and Demolition Battalions 1 and 2 are now under command of Lieutenant Colonel Orimura. Colonel Sarashiki, return to Novum Saeculo."

Charlotte rolled her shoulders side to side, before settling in with a pair of binoculars and preparing to keep an eye on her section of the perimeter.

XXXXXXXX

_**Ichika**_

October 4th, 06:47 hours

Ichika watched the civilian be escorted back to the harbors by a couple of his younger, less experienced soldiers.  
This is the part of his duties that he finds both thrilling and disgusting. It's no place for fresh recruits. No place for children. And they are, in his eyes. You are always a child, until you've first seen combat.

Children don't have ancient, dead eyes, removed from all of the spark and warmth that they once had.

He was a child, once.

He can hardly remember those days now.

He was the one who wanted to do this, but he wants to go home, as well. Back to his lover's arms, back to the place where warmth, happiness, and hope exist. Back to a place where he can almost conceive of a future for himself.

A future free from war.

_No, that's never going happen._

_War never ends. It's only postponed. I have a job to do. There are enemy lines to break._

Ichika walked, straight-backed, with Laura and Alessandra taking his right and left sides, to the raised podium above his soldiers.

"Today, you are under my command. Today we are not Assault and Demolition Battalions 1 and 2! Today, we are Gardeners! Today, we will turn the soil, to allow our allies to plant the seeds of victory! Today, we fight! Today, we win! In interitu praepollens!"

_"In interitu praepollens! In interitu preapollens!"_

His men chanting the Gardeners' motto was all that Ichika needed to hear to confirm that he wouldn't have to worry about desertion any time soon. The men- his men- lined up.

_I will never let anyone important to me die! Never again! We'll win, and I will return, Charlotte!_

XXXXXXXX

_**Akemi Orimura**_

October 4th, 07:00 Hours

Phantom Task Base, ?

The middle-aged woman looked over her screens, and grinned an ever-widening grin, showing off far, far too many canines.

Behind her was a younger woman who looked much like a younger version of her mother, smirking with her arms crossed.

"So, they've decided to retake Japan, have they?"

"Yes, Madoka-chan, they have. Your brother is making quite the name for himself."

Madoka smiled, though it was devoid of warmth, and in no way reached her eyes.

"That, he is. Who was in charge of Japan, again?"

"Summer, of course."

Madoka started laughing.

"Su-Summer? Oh, this is great! What do you think the look on his face is going to be?"

Akemi merely smirked, as she watched the small dot showing one of the two estranged members of her family march ever-closer to the city's control tower.

_Phase four..._

XXXXXXXX

_**Omake 2: Graduation**_

Ichika looked at the assembled cadets. Today was the day of their graduation, and as head of his class, but not of the grade, he was expected to make a speech. Normally, it would be fairly short, but Tatenashi had decided to make him do it, in her place.

She claimed she wasn't good at public speaking. Ichika called bullshit.

She told him about restaurant reservations she had secure for two the night of their graduation.

His relationship was a bit strained, so he agreed reluctantly.

Ichika cleared his throat, as scanned the crowd below him. This was it... no turning back now.

"Today, we are here to celebrate our graduation from training. We aren't here to mourn our losses so far, and we aren't here to protest the action, or lack of action, our governments have taken so far." He swallowed.

"We are here to join a war. We are here to ensure nobody in our countries may have to face war outside of their desires. We are not children. Starting our first operations, we will never be children again. I am proud to be here, as one of the leaders of all the brave men and women that I see before me." Ichika straightened, and a more resolute air took about him.

"Our enemy is already consolidating their power. As we speak, there are more and more innocents dying, because there aren't enough soldiers. I want all of us to remember one thing." Ichika took a deep breath.

"There will never be enough. We will always need more people, we will always be able to do more. I know that I will do all that I must, and all that I can on top of that. I have one question to all of you, the graduating Cadets of 2031. Will you do absolutely everything that you can? Will you all fight until your last breath, to ensure peace and prosperity to our nations? That is what it means to fight! That is what I will do, until this war is over and done with! That, that is what we must do drive away the evil infesting our world!"

Ichika smiled down at the other graduates. It was more than slightly predatory.

"Thank you for your time. It as honor to graduate with you all. Let's show those bastards in Phantom Task just what the UN can do."

Ichika bowed slightly, and walked off the stadium.

XXXXXXXX

AN: This is really and introduction to Part 3. It felt right to end here, and the flow was such that I couldn't insert any of the timeskip filler that I wanted without screwing things up. Updates will be monthly, though I hope to be able to write more over my summer vacation.

All of the Gardeners have an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, due to their constant deployment on the front lines and consistent devastation of enemy forces, as well as several Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbons, due to their many campaigns.

Laura also has an Air Force Cross (awarded for 'extraordinary valor in ensuring the neutralization of an exceedingly powerful hostile force,' which was for killing Autumn), and a Distinguished Warfare Medal.

Alessandra has a Distinguished Warfare Medal.

Ichika has an Air Force Honor Graduate Ribbon, as well as an Air Force Cross (For a base assault that went wrong. He literally used his Hyouchuu to drag his Platoon out of the base and rocks, then blew the base up to high hell), and a Distinguished Warfare Medal.

Charlotte's IS is the Danseur des armes Infinite, the Dance of Infinite Weapons. The Armurerie de la Reine is the Armory of the Queen, which is what the engineers and supports call Charlotte's storage for her weapons.


End file.
